Curse of the Green Rose
by KatriaFaeyero
Summary: One day a girl will be born, with a mark of a green rose imprinted on her skin. She will have a gift that many will desire but she will be alone, broken and unloved. And those who love her will fall in despair and darkness under the curse of the green rose. That girl is Elphaba and this is her story.
1. Chapter 1: A midwife

Chapter One: A midwife on the run

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 _A complete sonnet_  
 _Yet a shattered glass._  
 _The noisiest and busiest town_  
 _Yet I can feel solemnity._

 _Behind blue eyes_  
 _Outgrown a green rose._  
 _I thought in heaven only_  
 _Will it live and nourish_

 _But who are you_  
 _Most rare of all diamonds._  
 _Am I to keep this?_  
 _Or rather keep you?_

Poem by: Jake Tadla

* * *

 _Border of Munchkinland and The Vinkus , May 1570_

The middle aged woman stopped running and looked around her indecisive. Her feet were trembling from exhaustion and her breath was coming out heavy and whistling. Her body was burning as if she had fever, after so many hours of unstoppable running, and her heart was pounding in her chest, that was rising and falling rapidly. Her lungs were about to burst.

She was sweaty from top to bottom and somewhere in her crazy running, she had lost her cap. She barely remembered that it had been caught in a branch of a tree and she hadn't bothered to stop and pick it up. Her long grey hair were falling loose, messy and dirty down her back and a few strands of hair had been stuck on her flaming, sweaty face. Her gaze wandered in her surroundings, hazy and wild, like the gaze of a trapped animal ready to be slaughtered by his predator.

The soft blowing breeze coming from the mountains made her shiver and she thought that she would need to find a place to spend the night. It was getting dark and tonight would be a very dark night since the moon was nowhere to be seen. It would be foolish of her if she continued running in the wilderness, in a land that was unknown to her. Danger would be just around the next tree.

Suddenly, her eyes shone triumphantly and a groan of satisfaction escaped her threat. What was in front of her made her extremely happy, because in front of her, there was the dark opening of a cave. It seemed to her like as opening was a mouth that was calling her to step in. A mouth that said words of comfort and friendship.

She tightened her grip on the bundle she was holding and with quick steps she decided to enter the cave. Once she was inside, she checked her surroundings with her judgmental eyes and considered that it was a safe enough place to settle for the night without any unpleasant surprises or an unexpected animal attack. It was a good shelter at least for tonight!

The woman left the bundle on the cold floor as carefully as she could and walked outside again. She gathered as much wood as her hands could carry and tried to place them as a makeshift door, in an attempt to hind the cave from prying eyes. She soon thought though that it was an unnecessary precaution since the men that were after her would also have to stop for the night.

Noticeably calmer now, she walked toward the precious cargo she had been carrying and put aside a broken of the blanket to reveal her treasure. Her eyes held a sweetness and affection now, on contrast to the fear and the pain she had been feeling all day. Thank goodness, the baby was still fast asleep but soon it would wake up, demanding its next meal.

She emerged a bottle from her handwoven bag and her spirit was once again filled with desperation. The bottle was almost empty; come tomorrow she would need to find fresh milk for her little baby girl.

Completely and utterly exhausted she rested her back on the chilly wall of the cave and swept her sweat away with the sleeve of her blouse. She had no idea where she had ended up after her wild running. The next village would probably be miles away. In her panic state, she hadn't seen where she was going. All she had cared about was to run as far away from her village as possible; away from the soldiers who were chasing her like a prey. Only now did she regretted not following any well known paths, but it was too late.

She emerged a cold piece of meat from her pocket and started chewing it slowly. It was necessary that she regained her strength if she wished to run like that the next day.

When she had sworn to the dying mother of the child that she would protect its life, she absolutely meant it. Now she wasn't too far from that moment, but what would her self sacrifice mean? A dead woman cannot offer many things.

Her mind wandered to that day, a few months ago, when she took hold of the baby for the very first time. She was present to the miracle that was her birth since she was the midwife that brought the child to life. Her mother, a poor peasant girl at the age of twenty, that had the fortune or the misfortune to brink her to life- depending on someone's point of view- hadn't been strong enough. She hadn't survive the birth and had died right after. It was then that the midwife took hold of the orphaned baby girl and run away, looking for someplace safe to hide her treasure.

She found a small, unimportant village, hidden somewhere in the vast mountains, and the fool believed that she would forever be protected by her anonymity. That was exactly what she had thought up until that morning. Maybe that was the reason why she had been so surprised and had reacted spasmodically.

During the first months of her stay in the village, she was always stand-by. She stretched her ears at every suspicious sound and she had made a very well organized escape plan, in case they uncovered her hiding place. Many times she stood up on the hill and her eyes were scanning the area for any sight of danger. But as nothing ever happened, her caution loosened. She started enjoying the peacefulness her new life offered her and she got into a wonderful everyday life.

Her whole world was her little Elphaba, who was beautifully growing up day by day. She became even stronger and even more beautiful than what the poor midwife could anticipate. And she loved the child. She loved her little girl as if it was her own and even more. Her soul was devoted to her, always. Not even once had she left her alone. Little Elphaba was always in her point of vision; even when she was working in the fields to make a living. She would tie Elphaba in her back as if the child was a part of her own body. Then she would work for hours to fend for her little treasure.

Her neighbors had offered to assist her many times, by baby sitting the child, so that she could easily do her job, but she constantly declined their help. At the end of the day, they left her in peace. The good women around the village, as well as the entire village population, believed that Elphaba was her granddaughter and they found the grandmother's affection for the child, a bit excessive.

If only they knew the truth... If they knew the events that had lead to the girl's birth, then maybe they would justify her overprotective ways.

But they didn't know... And they never would...

* * *

 _Munchkinland, many years ago_

Cattery Spunge, as the midwife was named, was completely alone in life until the day her path crossed with Elphaba.

Once upon a time she had fallen in love with all the passion of her youthful heart, but her love was not meant to blossom. The wandering troubadour who had captured her heart with his soothing voice and his sweet songs, wasn't part of the plans of her father, who wanted to marry his only daughter to someone wealthy. That was why the two of them had decided to elope in the middle of the night, with their hopes and dreams as their only luggage.

Once her father found out what had happened, his stubbornness and pride made him follow their trails, along with five or six men, who were thirsty for adventure and bloodshed. They had found the pair and had killed the troubadour, after they tortured him and disgraced him in front of Cattery's horrified eyes. The young girl was forced to return to her paternal home but she felt more like a dead woman than alive.

However, things didn't just stop there. Her troubadour and she had consummated their relationship and love in a more intimate way and soon the signs of pregnancy were visible. Her father had been beyond furious and had beaten her to the point that she lost her baby and almost her life. Due to her mother's care she managed to stand at her own feet again, only a month later.

One day, taking advantage of her father's absence from the house, she did the only thing that was left for her to do. She gathered her clothes in knapsack and left the house. Her mother didn't bother to stop her. She only stared at her as she walked away and only when her daughter was lost in the distance, did she felt a pang of fear in her heart. She wasn't sure though if she was worried of never seeing her daughter again or if she was just scared of her husband, who would be furious at finding a family member missing.

As for Cattery, her heart never healed. She spend her days in a monotonous way and watched as her life walked in a lonely path in front of her very eyes. Before she knew it, her time of youth had passed and her beauty had been lost. When she saw the first wrinkle on her face, something changed within her though and she decided - even after such a long time- that it was time to get out of the shell she had been trapped in with her endless mourning.

She showed an interest for what was happening in the village she had resided in, somewhere in Munchkinland, and she helped her neighbors in any way she could. The once isolated old maid , now sook the company of the other women and through their conversations, she got an idea of what her life would have been had she not locked herself away from the rest of the world.

She started realizing that she had overrated love, without thinking of the monotonous routine of fending for a family. For the first time, she wondered if her troubadour would still be the sweet and caring man she had loved, if he saw her with her hair messy and tired from the work of the day and with five or six children running around her legs. With her imagination she could see delicate white hands caressing almost lovingly the chords of a guitar and she smiled bitterly as she compared these hands with those of the village men. Those were tired, calloused and rough hands from working all day to take care of their family.

Maybe her tender lover wouldn't be able to take care of his responsibilities, to the point of running away from her and the prison of their family. He had admitted that stability scared him and he couldn't stay in one place for a long time. He wanted to fly free like a bird, following the blowing wind.

At one point, Cattery became interested in pregnancies and after a while she became the best midwife of the area. It was a way to fulfill a missing part of herself after her miscarriage. She would devote herself into helping young women taste the wonder of motherhood- something that had violently been ripped away from her.

There were many a times when they would wake her up in the middle of the night and Cattery would run to help whoever needed her. And it was then, between the sweating bodies, the pain of labor, the blood and the crying that follows the coming of a new life, that she heard about the prophecy for the first time.

At first, the women who had come to support to the newly made mother, wouldn't open up easily in front of the midwife. They talked in whispers and their words held no meaning as they examined each newborn baby. It didn't take long for Cattery to notice that they were mostly interested in the female babies. It was also obvious that even the men knew of that secret shared between their wives. She could see it in their disappointed faces every time a woman signed negatively.

It took a long time for people to trust her with their precious secret.

Thus, she learned that it had come the time when a very special girl would be born; a charismatic child that would bare an indelible mark on her body, showing her uniqueness. The problem was that they didn't known where or when exactly this miracle would happen and that was why they checked all the newborn females. According to tradition, every eight generations, a girl would be born from a strong family line and that girl would have a special power, wondrous enough to change the lives of many. But because the constant migration of the people and the depths of time, it was difficult to identify the mother.

Cattery hadn't given much thought to those rumors, until the day Elphaba was born.

* * *

 **I have no idea what came over me and inspired me to write this story but I suddenly had this idea and couldn't get it out of my mind. I just started writing and I couldn't stop and suddenly I had two chapters almost ready.**

 **A few words about this story... It's obviously gonna be Fiyeraba but it is totally AU, so I hope you don't mind that. If you like this and want me to continue please leave a review. It will be much appreciated and cherished.**

 **Also, the character of Cattery Spunge is Nanny from The Wicked Years of Gregory Maguire. However, she won't be like the Nanny from the book.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own wicked neither it's characters. I also down own the poem used at the beginning of the chapter.** **It belongs to Jake Tadla.**


	2. Chapter 2: The birth

_Munchkinland, December 1569_

It was a cold winter evening and Cattery Spunge was returning to her small cabin. She was walking against the cold breeze and she had already guessed that a storm that was coming. To avoid the cold, she held her cloak tighter around her neck. Thankfully, she had decided to take the short path to her home, a path that went through the forest right outside the village. However, it was destiny that had made her take that path.

Less than a mile away from her destination she abruptly came to a stop and listened.

Through the loud hum of the wind, she had recognized another very familiar sound. It was the screaming of a woman in immense pain. The screaming reached her ears easily and she stopped to to find out from when the screaming was coming. When she was completely sure, she started running that way, only to be greeted by a sight that made her stop breathing.

There, laying on the cold ground, covered in mud and with her back resting in the back of a thick tree, was a young woman. The very few leafs of the tree did nothing to protect her from the rain and she was soaking wet from head to toe. Her legs were open and a pool of blood had been created in front of her. Her swollen belly seemed huge compared to her thin body.

Cattery run her way and kneeled beside her, not even caring that her dress and cloak were now covered in mud and and blood. She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and swept away the woman's wet ebony locks. She kissed her forehead affectionately and only then did she recognized her.

Her name was Melena and she lived in the neighboring village, all alone in a humble cabin. She had appeared there a few months ago and had said that her husband had been killed during a hunting session. She was distant and held pain in her eyes but Cattery had had a chance to talk to her, after examining her pregnancy progress a month ago. She had completely forgotten about Melena until now.

The young woman opened her eyes with difficulty and for the first time Cattery saw eyes in the color of ambers. Too lost in Melena's hurting amber eyes, she had almost forgotten what was happeing, until the woman tried to give her a tiny painful smile and mumbled :

"I was coming to you..."

Cattery touched the woman's belly with her experienced hands and she felt a wave of fear passing by her. The baby was coming down the wrong way and the mother was already overly exhausted. She looked around her in search of help but there was no one around. It was late, it was getting dark and the villagers had been locked in their homes to keep the cold away.

"I can't help you much when we are here my sweet." she said with a strange determination in her eyes. "We need to get to my house. It's not that far away..."

She grasped the girl from the underarms and helped her to stand up. She groaned in pain and a new river of blood ran down her pale legs.

"My Oz, why does it hurt so much? Is it normal?" she managed to whisper, while leaning her head on Cattery's shoulder.

"Of course!" lied the midwife. "Bringing a new life in the world is no easy business, you know." They started walking steadily and slowly. They girl could barely move her legs, leaving a trail of blood with every step she took. The deep dark red, turned into pink as the rain washed it away.

It took them half an hour to reach Cattery's humble home, which thankfully was at the borders of the village. No one saw the two women coming and entering the house. It was like the whole village was deserted.

Cattery, laid Melena on her bed and started preparing everything for the labor. Firstly, she lit up the fireplace and put some water to boil on a cauldron. She then took with her as many clean towels as she could.

As she worked, her mind was thinking everything over and over again. She had faced numerous difficult situations but nothing compared to this. If was the first time she would deal with such a difficult labor. She had head that sometimes using a knife would be helpful- sometimes it was completely necessary-, but Cattery was afraid of this specific solution.

"We shall see..." she muttered under her breath, trying to give herself courage.

Quickly she got to work and approached the bed. For a few minutes now, the young woman had been quiet and only now did Cattery realized why: she had fainted and the unnatural paleness of her complexion made her look more like a corpse than a breathing woman. The sheets beneath her were full of blood and Cattery wondered how a person so tiny and vulnerable would have so much blood on her veins.

She desperately tried to wake the unconscious woman by throwing water on her face or slapping her slightly but she never responded to all this. She was already in a limbo between life and death.

Cattery sat at the edge of the bed, completely disappointed. In front of her she had two vulnerable creatures, a mother and a baby that was about to come to this world, and she felt responsible for their lives. To her ultimate horror, she realized that she couldn't save them both. It was impossible. At least, she could save the baby, if not its poor mother. And to do so, she had to act fast.

She quickly got up from the bed and went to the small kitchen, where she kept her knives. She took the bigger one and after burning its sharp edge in the fire for several minutes, she returned to the bed and stood above the unconscious young woman.

She murmured a preyer and then, with as much determination as she possessed, she ripped apart the dress the woman was wearing from the waist and above. With trembling hands, in fear of hurting the baby, she made a big Caesarian section. It must have been painful because even in her slumber, Melena grimaced in immense pain and her weak feet kicked the air. Cattery had looked ahead and had tied the woman on the bed before continuing her work. The moment she took the baby out of the mother's vagina alive, she felt a great amount of relief and joy.

Melena was still breathing weakly but she was also unconscious with her belly ripped open. Cattery thought that no one deserved to go to the underworld in that state, slaughtered like a lamp. That was why she left the newborn on the nearby table and went to fend for the mother. She sewed her carefully and cleaned the scar with rum.

When she was finished, she could barely feel her legs. Exhausted and out of breath, she sat in a chair and looked at what she had done. If that poor woman hadn't lost so much blood in the first place, she would have had a chance on getting better and surviving.

She mechanically looked at the baby and she watched that her tiny face was slowly turning blue. She suddenly remembered that the baby hadn't cried yet which meant that it hadn't taken her first breath. She abruptly stood up and took the baby in her arms. She turned her around and hit her back with her fist, maybe a bit stronger than what was necessary.

With a sigh of relief she heard a loud wail, more like the coaxing of a crow, filling the empty room. The sound was that of the purest melody in Cattery's ears and suddenly she was full of energy. She felt no longer tired as she carefully took the baby to calm down the crying and clean the blood from its frail body. The mother's condition hadn't affected the newborn girl, that was full of life and health. She kicked her tiny arms and legs up and down as she cried and accepted the care of the midwife.

Cattery was smiling all the while at the sight of the baby girl, that had calmed down from her crazy wail. But soon, the smile disappeared from her thin lips. The water and blood drops she had washed seconds before were falling from the towel she was holding in her hand to a bucket under her feet; and that was the only sound in the room for a whole minute. She wouldn't even dare to breath. Her eyes were fixed on a green mark, well hidden in the baby's right thigh. It looked more like a rose with open petals than a simple mark. It was so perfectly designed that not even the strange color could catch her attention. It was a fascinatingly perfect green rose mark.

"It's her, isn't it?" a barely audible voice reached her ears and startled as she was, she turned around to face the young woman. She had been unconscious a few minutes ago but her daughter's wailing must have miraculously given her life; not permanently but she would now have enough time to see her child for the first and the last time. Melena had tried to rise her laying body and was supporting her weight on her elbows. But it was obvious how painful in was for her and how much agony she felt even by doing the slightest of movements.

"The child of the prophecy?" asked Cattery, feeling her mouth running dry. "She had the mark, if that's what you mean..." She carefully tucked the baby in a blanket and handed her to her mother's waiting embrace, after helping the poor woman to rest her back on the headboard of the bed.

"I knew it... I was so scared that she would be..." she muttered in a heartbreakingly soft tone, as she took her daughter in her weak arms.

She looked at the baby that was now peacefully sleeping and her amber eyes filled with tears. She wasn't delusional. She knew that Death was just around the corner, waiting for her with its sharp nails already grasping her tormented flesh. But maybe Lurline or the Unnamed God had decided to give her a moment of peace and allow her to face the reason of her death.

Nevertheless, Melena felt no hatred for the creature that would kill her in the blossoming of her youth. She could only feel love.

"She is wonderful!" she whispered weakly. In her watery eyes one could see her pride and love, mixed with sadness and fear for what tomorrow would bring. She couldn't see a bright future nearby. Her daughter would be forever alone in this world, with no one to take care of her and protect her.

Out of the blue, she raised her head and her pleading eyes were fixed on Cattery.

"I have no one to trust to take care of my child. Only you!" she said. "If they were to discover who she is, then it would have been better for her to never be born."

"I'll protect her!" the midwife was fast to reply. The image of the moribund mother who could barely hold her newborn child in her arms, was enough to break Cattery's heart and even the coldest of hearts.

"That's not enough!" Melena whispered. "You have to take her away from here. Away from Munchkinland if that's necessary. I'm afraid that the Governor will harm her..."

Cattery had no idea for what the woman was talking about, since her neighbors had never told her details concerning the prophecy. They had informed her that the precious baby would bear the mark, but no one had explained what that meant. However, she had heard a lot of things concerning his eminency, the Governor, as he was known in the villages. He had all of Munchkinland under his control and he was considered one of the most powerful aristocrats in all of Oz. He was also known for being heartless and cruel, for torturing villagers for his amusement and for the restricted measures he had enforced upon the Munchkins. Yet still... Cattery couldn't understand what a powerful Governor would want with the baby of a simple peasant girl.

Melena immediately sensed Cattery's confusion so she motioned for her to approach. She desperately needed to persuade her. She had to find the will and the power to hold on a little longer and tell her of the danger that was approaching.

Cattery leaned her head so that her ear was closer to Melena's mouth. This way she would listen to her whispering voice easily. And as she listened, her facial expression started changing to one of shock and horror. If things were indeed like that, under no circumstances could the baby stay in that village, where everyone was expecting her to be born.

Of course Cattery faced a terrible dilemma. On the one hand, she genuinely wanted to help the poor woman and protect her child with her own life. She could easily sympathize with the pain of losing a child. On the other hand, she had built a life on that village, she had fixed her roots upon those grounds since she was twenty years old and she wasn't ready to abandon her cozy, peaceful life. But this orphaned child, this poor little thing, would suffer a life of misery and pain without her help. So, she finally made her decision.

"Depend on me my dear. I promise you that I'll flee this place and never come back. That I shall protect her even if it costs me my life."

"Thank you..." she managed to mutter. Her gaze was now fixed on the face of her tiny daughter, sleeping in her arms. Her eyes and expression betrayed only immense love, affection and adoration for her little girl. She wouldn't break her gaze from the tiny face. Her daughter's sleeping form was the last image she wanted to take with her in death.

"I love you my darling girl. Never forget how much I love you!" She slowly caressed the baby's peachy cheek with her thumb and a tear found its way down her cheek. "Until we meet again my little rose." With a slow, calming movement she leaned down and pressed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. Then she looked at the beautiful face of her child, one last time, and exhaled her last breath of relief.

* * *

Cattery mourned her for hours, as if they were dear relatives. She then walked out of the house and sat at the steps of her home to thing what she would do from now on. The thought of breaking her promise to Melena and continue living her normal life didn't even cross her mind. Fate had brought this poor child in her arms and all she could do was to protect it. It would be in vain to defy fate. Maybe fate wanted to pay her back for all her years of isolation, after ripping her own child from her body.

The rain had stopped now and the stars had filled the dark sky with their dim light. The sweet aroma of the wet grass reached her nostrils and suddenly she realized that it would be her responsibility to bury the poor woman. She had been lucky for knowing her name in advance because in between all this madness, she would have forgotten to ask.

She stood up from the doorstep and went to the small storeroom, from where she took a shovel and started digging a whole in the backyard of the house. Under any other circumstances, she wouldn't want to have a body buried in her yard, but right now, that was a tiny little and meaningless detail. She would soon leave anyway.

When she was finished, she entered the house, completely exhausted and sweaty. She wrapped the lifeless body in a blanket and took the poor woman's corpse outside, by the open grave. She unwrapped the woman's face to see her one last time and she sighed. She had been so young and so beautiful. She had surely deserved more than what the midwife could give her. Cattery wrapped her in the blanket again and carefully lowered her on the ground.

She was sad that there weren't any flowers in her garden during winter. She would have wanted to bury the young woman in a grave full of sweet scented, soft flowers. She put her sad thoughts aside though and threw soil to cover the grave. She then placed a few fallen branches to hide the grave from eyeshot.

"May you rest forever in peace Melena. You shall never be forgotten!" she murmured and then preyed to Lurline to forgive her for not holding a proper funeral to honor the woman.

Half an hour later she was ready to leave. She had changed clothes and had gathered what was completely necessary to a bag. She took the newborn in her arms and in the middle of the night she disappeared like a common thief.

"Now it's just the two of us my little Elphaba!" she whispered to the sleeping baby.

Elphaba was the name she had chosen to give to her own child, had it been born. So she thought that it was a fitting and beautiful name for the little miracle in her arms. Besides, the mother hadn't named the child either because she hadn't thought about it or because she had had very little time. It was Cattery's responsibility to name her and give her the name she wanted.

Elphaba was an unusual name that fitted perfectly to an equally unusual creature. Cattery had taken inspiration for the name after hearing the story of Saint Aelphaba of the Waterfall. It was an old Vinkun legend that had enchanted her many years ago. And that name was perfect for little Elphaba, the girl with the green rose mark.

* * *

 **I want to give special thanks to my reviewers this far! You are both wonderful !**

 **Guest Reviewer: Thank you for leaving my very first review for this story. Indeed English is not my mother tongue. My "first" language is Greek. I am trying to be as fluent as possible so if you spot any grave grammatical mistakes let me know. I'll consider finding a bet but currently I don't have much time so please bare with me.**

 **AJeff: Dear Anna, thank you so much for reading and reviewing in both my stories. I hope you enjoy them and continue reading. I hope I don't disappoint you with in any way!**

 **Next chapter we see the struggles of Cattery to protect Elphaba and hide her. She also has a chance encounter that will change the turn of events in the life of the midwife and the baby. For the better or for the worse?**

 **Also, Elphaba isn't green (yet) if you haven't figured it out. The only green thing about her is the green rose mark.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: Wicked the book and the musical don't belong to me. I only own the plot of this story.**


	3. Chapter 3: A father

**Hi!**  
 **If you've come across this story, I hope you genuinely enjoy it and I hope that you share your thoughts with me by reviewing.**

 **Before you start reading I want to remind you that this story is completely AU. There is no Wizard and no Morrible(yet) and that Elphaba isn't green.**

 **Enjoy reading!**

 **Love,**  
 **Katria**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Wicked Universe. Only the plot of this story.**

* * *

 _Border of Munchkinland and The Vinkus, May 1570_

Cattery's sudden disappearance from the village and the trails she had left behind her, rose questions amongst the villagers. Their suspicion was something that hadn't crossed her mind. In her hurry and panic, she had completely forgotten to cover the trails of her escape. So, she thought she was safe in the other small faraway village she had chosen as her shelter but actually she was by far safe.

Unbeknownst to her, the Governor had sent his men in every direction, in a desperate chance to find her and the baby.

Five months later, since nothing had happened, Cattery had started believing that she was worrying for nothing. She had even started believing that her former neighbors- Elphaba's mother included- had exaggerated.

That morning though she was bound to have a change of heart. The fact that she hadn't already been caught was due to pure luck. That day she had a terrible toothache and she hadn't slept at night, causing her to wake up earlier than usual. The world was about to dawn when Cattery walked out of the house holding a bucket in her hands. She walked a few meters away to the nearby well and filled her bucket with water.

Out of the blue she heard wild howls. The sound caught her attention because, logically speaking, the dogs of the village were most likely still asleep. She let down the bucket and climbed a nearby hill from where she had almost full view of the village. From that hight, she spotted at least fourteen men, with locating dogs with them, approaching the houses. They were holding torches and the silver of their armory sparkled under the tiny flames.

"What are those soldiers doing here?" she wondered.

Those night visitors didn't care to keep their presence a secret. Once they reached the village, they started breaking the doors of the houses, entering them and then forcing the inhabitants outside violently. Those who tried to protest for the barbaric invasion in their small property, immediately found a tragical death by the sharp blades of the soldiers. That was enough to alert the others and froze them to obey to the will of the invaders.

It was then that Cattery saw that the soldiers were separating from the rest of the crowd, the women who held babies. Cold sweat crept upon her and her mouth ran dry as realization hit her.

 _"Goodness, they are looking for Elphaba"_ she thought.

With hurried steps, she walked down the rocky hill and run to her home as fast as she could. Hastily, she took a bag and threw in Elphaba's milk bottle and something edible to eat herself. She took hold of the sleeping baby and fled away, leaving the door behind her wide open.

Since that moment, her nightmare began. Her once kind and friendly neighbors had vaguely accused her and handed her identity to save their own lives. She couldn't exactly blame them for trying to save their families.

Cattery had made it far away from the village just in time but she was traveling on foot while her persecutors were on horses. All day she could hear from afar the galloping of the horses and many times she would walk in small ponds of water and mud, in a failed attempt to get rid of the scent and confuse the dogs. But it was in vain. The dogs would locate the scent again and would be hot on her trails.

Only when it got dark she started relaxing. The barking of the dogs was barely audible so she decided to stop her running and rest for the night. She would need all the strength she could get. For a middle aged woman, it was already a miracle that she had managed to escape thus far.

Now she was sitting in the small cave, with her back resting in the cold wall, and she was chewing that piece of meat she had managed to take with her before fleeing the village. Her eyes were all the while fixed on little Elphaba in her arms. The baby was still sleeping peacefully, her rosy lips and faded eyebrows curling in several baby grimaces.

She could just abandon the child and leave. It wasn't her that they wanted. They were seeking for Elphaba, not herself. However, she had given an oath she couldn't break. And if only it was just that oath holding her back!Her heart was also captured by Elphaba. Because of Elphaba she had found a reason to live again. Her heart had gotten warm and she could finally feel like she belonged in the family that had been ripped from her. She owed Elphaba her peace of heart and she would never ever abandon her.

At some point, Elphaba had woken up and was now wailing. Cattery immediately put the bottle of milk in Elphaba's mouth to make her stop. In the quietness of the night, even the briefest sound could be heard from the distance.

When Elphaba ate, Cattery laid beside her and started murmuring a lullaby to calm her down. The baby fell asleep instantly. Cattery's eyes also started drifting off and soon Morpheus embraced her, giving her a sleep full of terrorizing nightmares.

She woke up a few hours later with a burning feeling in her chest. She could feel that something was off. She had a bad feeling. The cave around her was now more like a prison cell and she felt like she would suffocate every minute now. She desperately wanted to leave the cave and go to take some fresh air.

It wouldn't be long till the sun was high above and she decided that it would be better to travel in the dark. She could get a head start this way. So she walked towards the opening of the cave and pushed aside the branches and the leaves she had used the previous night to cover the opening.

But the moment she opened the entrance of the cave she realized two things. One, she had been fooled concerning the hour since the first irises of the sun were already high above. And two, her running had come to an end.

"You finally decided to reveal yourself. Thank goodness!" a hoarse voice said and Cattery looked up, only to meet the dark brown eyes of a man around thirty years old.

He was tall and his body structure was well build since he was a soldier. He wasn't wearing a helmet so his dark brown hair were falling wavily around his extremely handsome face. His features were sharp in just the right places, betraying his noble heritage, and his eyes were the warmest shade of brown Cattery had ever seen. What stricken her though was the fact that he didn't seem to mean her any harm. He was dressed as a soldier and he surely looked intimidating but he held a special kindness deep in his gaze that was searching, was eyeing her up and down and was looking for something. Probably Elphaba?

"Do not fear me, please! I mean you no harm Madame!" he said in an accent that was unfamiliar to her. It didn't sound like the Munchkinland accent or the Vinkus or even the accent she had heard some Quadlings have. His voice was gentle, fitting perfectly to his handsome image and the way he held himself.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked harshly and she saw his eyes looking at the ground in shame. She looked around her nervously and noticed that the rest of the soldiers weren't there. There was no sound of barking or horse galloping either. She could only listen to the birds singing, the river running, the wind blowing and the man in front of her breathing.

"My name is Oscar Diggs, Madame. And I truly mean you no harm. You are also safe from my soldiers for the time being. I mislead them last night and they took a separate path. You have my word that for now you are safe." The rate of her heartbeat had increased in the last minutes since she had emerged from the cave but it was steadily slowing down now. The man in front of her- this Oscar Diggs- seemed sincere and his words were genuine.

"Then what do you want from me?" she asked, a bit more hardly than she had wanted.

"I want you to answer me one question and then make me a promise that you shall never break!" His eyes sparkled in a mysterious way and held immense pain. The same pain she had seen only five months ago when Melena had asked her to care for Elphaba.

"I've made a great deal of promises in my life Master Diggs. And I've kept them all." she stated and the man nodded. "Ask me what your heart wants to know!"

"I only want to ask you one thing. Melena! Is Melena..." Cattery didn't know what shocked her the most. The revelation that this man knew of Melena or the devastation she could already see in his gaze? She understood which word he couldn't say and she pitied him just for this moment. Then she was filled with curiosity once more. How did he knew Melena? Why did he seem to care so much? What did he wanted from her? Why wasn't he chasing her?

"Yes, Master Diggs! I am afraid that Melena has passed away." the voice of logic forced her to tell him even if she knew nothing of his intentions. The pain grew even more in his dark eyes and he sucked in a breath of despair.

"I hope she wasn't in pain! She didn't deserve pain!" he said in a shaky voice and Cattery let the lie slip from her tongue before she could even process what was happening.

"She wasn't in pain. I made sure of that. I took care of her!" she managed to choke out the lies. Melena hadn't only died in the midsts of the most torturous pain. She had also suffered a great deal emotionally and mentally. But how could Cattery tell him all that when she knew that he was already suffering from the loss?

A long moment of silence followed where no one spoke. No one even dared to move too. Oscar was in mourning and Cattery was reliving the memories of that awful day five months ago. The moment was broken though as Elphaba's wail echoed in the silence. The man looked up with what could only be described as shock while Cattery was suddenly worried all over again. Then, something she hadn't expected happened. Oscar walked towards the cave and a few seconds later he was outside again with little Elphaba in his arms.

The baby was fusing violently and was crying but right there and then, right in front of Cattery's frozen form, the soldier started soothing the crying baby by shaking her back and forth. His eyes were fixed on her tiny face and his other hand- the hand that wasn't holding Elphaba- was caressing her porcelain face. Cattery couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man was holding Elphaba as if she was the most precious treasure he had laid eyes upon. His eyes held pride, love, wonder, affection... It was almost what she had seen in Melena's eyes...

"How did you name her?" he asked out of the blue and broke Cattery from her trance. She blinked several times and swallowed hard before answering with some strange sense of both uncertainty and security.

"Her name is Elphaba!" she said and to her surprise a tear rolled down the man's cheek.

"Elphaba!" he whispered as he allowed the little girl to take hold of his finger and stuff it in her mouth. "Did Melena name her or did you choose the name?" he asked a moment later, his eyes never breaking contact with the tiny child.

"I chose the name! Melena didn't have time to name her so that responsibility fell on me!"

"Elphaba! Elphaba! My beautiful Elphaba!" he repeated again and again. Then his gaze turned back to the older woman. "You mean to tell me that you had no idea how Melena and I wanted to name our daughter?"

Several seconds needed to pass before Cattery understood what the man had confessed. He was Elphaba's father! He was the man that had impregnated Melena! Her husband? Her fiancé? Her lover? The way he was acting while holding Elphaba made her believe the truth he had confessed. The love he had shown towards the child in those mere seconds he had hold her, made sense now to Cattery's mind. But now even more questions arose in her mind.

"You are Elphaba's father?" she muttered and the man nodded.

"I am her father and Melena was the love of my life. Our story is of no importance to you now. There are more urgent matters to be attended! Especially if Elphaba indeed bears the mark!" Cattery nodded and the man's lips curled into a sad smile. With little effort he lifted Elphaba's tiny cloth and his eyes found the green rose birthmark. Then he dressed her again.

"We knew it. We always knew it and we were separated to protect her at any cost. But now it's up to you!" Cattery was confused. The man seemed to bring up her mind more questions than answers and that was driving her mad. Why couldn't he protect Elphaba if he was her father?

"But you are her father. Surely you can fend for her! What can I do for her that you can't afford? I am just a poor midwife! But you..."

"You can give her anonymity Madame. No one can know where she is hiding, how she looks like, what's her name. No one can know of her power because then all hope will be lost. You can give her a chance to leave away from Munchkinland, something that I can't give her."

"So what do you want from me?" Oscar approached the older woman and held baby Elphaba between them.

"I suppose I want exactly what Melena wanted. I want you to keep my child safe and out of harm's way. I want you to leave Munchkinland and never come back because that will be her doom."

"And where should I go? I don't even know where that path leads." she gestured to the long way ahead of them. The man surprised her with a smile.

"This is exactly the road you shall take. We are in the borders of Munchkinland and The Vinkus. If you walk past this road and follow that specific path then you shall pass the borders and enter the Kingdom of the Vinkus, where the Governor's men won't be able to follow you without being attacked by King Halmond's soldiers."

"Thank you! I shall take Elphaba to the Vinkus."

"Madame ..."

"Cattery Spunge!" she gave him her name and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Madame Spunge, the Vinkus is indeed safer for my daughter but that does not mean she will be completely safe. You must understand that she will forever be in danger if you are not careful enough. We are lucky that the Governor doesn't know her name and we are even luckier that the mark isn't visible is she isn't naked. But she may have magical outbursts that might endanger her and uncover her identity!" Oscar explained and though Cattery wasn't sure what he meant, she nodded.

"I know that you have questions but I promise you shall know everything soon." he said after spending a few more seconds staring lovingly at his child. With the hand that wasn't holding Elphaba, he took off his shoulder a brown bag and handed it to Cattery.

"In here you shall find some food to regain your strength and as many money as I could give for you to start over. It also contains two things that are very special to me! You will find a small green bottle in the shape of a perfume bottle. It belonged to me and I had given it to Melena as a gift. Now, I want Elphaba to have it." Cattery checked the back and she indeed saw the food and the green bottle. She also saw another item that Oscar hadn't mentioned.

"And the second item is Melena's diary. I want you to read it carefully. It shall answer all of your questions. Please, don't feel like you are intruding in her private thoughts. If you want to protect Elphaba from harm's way and know your enemy, you have to read it."

"I will read it then. And when the right moment comes I'll give it to Elphaba!" The man nodded. He then leaned down and kissed Elphaba's forehead just like Melena had done five months ago.

"I love you my little rose! I would keep you with me forever if I could but you won't be safe with me!" he started saying and Elphaba's big amber eyes looked at him in fascination. "Remember that your mama loved you with all her heart. Remember that I shall love you till the day I die! My little perfect rose!" His face was tear stained but he cared not. All that mattered to him was his child; the child that he would probably never see again.

"Until we meet again my darling!" he whispered and kissed her forehead again. Then he handed her to Cattery.

"It was fate that brought her to you Madame Spunge. I will forever be in you depth for caring for her. Now, go, as fast as you can, because I don't know for how much longer the dogs will be fooled." Cattery carefully tucked the baby in her arms and looked at the man one last time. He seemed so broken-hearted that it shattered her own heart. She didn't want to separate him from his child but still...

"Go!" he ordered suddenly, his voice full of authority; an authority that Cattery hadn't thought possible for this caring and kind man. The urgency in his tone though made her turn around instantly and start running towards the path ahead of her. The Vinkun border was so close and she would soon be partially safe.

Cattery didn't look back at the man, since she was too busy running again. If she had turned back though, she would have seen and heard his break down. She would have seen him falling in his knees in the cold ground and start crying; mourning for his lost love and preying for the safety of his child.

"Until we meet again my little Elphaba!" he whispered in the distance as he watched Cattery Spunge and his daughter becoming a dot in the horizon.

* * *

 _Munchkinland, May 1570, five days later_

"Governor Thropp!" The captain of the Governor's guard bowed in front of his lord and when he was given permission, he rose his head to meet the Governor.

"Captain Diggs! I hope that you brought me good news!" The Governor turned to face the captain and one of his most trusted soldiers. The Governor's composure was tall and lean and he had an aura of intimidation. He was far from handsome and compared to the Captain's looks, the Governor looked like an ugly pig. But who would dare say it? Even his dark eyes inspired fear to the bravest souls. Who would dare defy him?

"Unfortunately your eminency the midwife escaped along with the child. We couldn't locate her." Oscar lied through his teeth but all the while he remained cold and uncaring. She couldn't reveal his true emotions because then he would surely be a dead man and his precious little girl would be in even worse danger.

The Governor's gaze darkened even more. His black eyes were wide open in rage and his lower lip trembled a bit.

"Fifteen men Captain! Fifteen men, fifteen horses and five dogs and you still lost her! But she was barely an old woman. How did she outsmart you Captain?"

Oscar stayed silent for a moment. He had already made the story in his mind from the very first moment he had located Cattery and had sent his men the other way to chase for nothing.

"There was a river in the area Your Governorship. She walked through the river and the dogs lost her scent. We searched the area for five days but not a single trait of her my lord!" explained Oscar calmly. The Governor took a gulp of his wine and the liquor burned his throat. He didn't seem to care though because the alcohol seemed to eat away a bit of his anger. He turned to the Captain again after a while to ask another question, a question that Oscar had dreaded from the very first moment.

"And my wife? Do you have any information on my wife?"

Oscar fought with himself to keep his expression neutral and his eyes empty of all emotion. The Governor had asked about his wife's whereabouts for months but every time Oscar had lied and the truth had brought him joy. Now he had to tell the truth in a way and that would only bring him more sadness.

"She is dead my lord. Dead and buried!" The Governor drank from his wine again, completely indifferent to the fact that his wife was dead.

"She got what she deserved that filthy bitch!" he said and drank again. "I hope she burns in hell for what she did! I hope she never finds peace!" Oscar fought the urge to strangle the Governor with great difficulty.

Melena had done nothing wrong. She had fallen in love with Oscar when she was still unmarried and they had made so many beautiful dreams together. But somehow, the Governor had found out that her family line was connected to the prophesied witch. Melena was the seventh woman of her line which meant that her daughter would be the eighth and she would be the most powerful witch off all times, with the power of telling the future. That was the reason he had forced the young woman to marry him.

Melena's only sin was that she had refused to accept the Governor's affection. She had known his intentions from the very first moment and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of bringing that special child in the world. Not even once had she shared her bed with him willingly and the physical pain he caused her had meant nothing to her. She had even gone as far as to eat special seeds that stopped a woman from getting pregnant.

Only one night, while in Oscar's arms, she hadn't eaten the special seed and Elphaba had been the result. Once she had found out she had run away from the Governor and that was how she had ended up in that village, close to Cattery Spunge.

His poor, sweet, caring Melena...

That beast had broken her spirit and had erased the fire from her amber eyes- eyes that she shared with their daughter. Oscar had sworn vengeance to the Governor but first he would have to play his part in erasing Elphaba's trails.

He was about to say something to the lord when the doors of the throne room opened and a man Oscar recognized as the castle's doctor entered.

"Your Governorship! Lady Dethna gave birth to a baby girl!" Oscar's mouth opened wide in shock. Lady Dethna had been Melena's older cousin and Oscar had known for a while that the Governor had a secret affair with the willing beautiful woman.

What he hadn't know was that she had gotten pregnant. And what he definitely hadn't expected was to follow his lord in the chamber of the newborn girl and see with his own eyes a mark identical to that of his daughter's on the baby's rosy thigh. A tiny rose...

But it was pinkish not green and the petals weren't perfectly shaped...

Before he could anticipate what was happening the Governor had turned to him with a triumphant evil smile, the newborn protectively in his arms.

"It seems that we waisted our precious time chasing a fraud for months Captain. Your little failure to bring the baby to me won't cause you your head after all. Melena did this on purpose to trick me and mislead me. Because now I am holding my true treasure!" he said and held the wailing baby tighter. He was looking at the baby girl as if she was an object and not a child.

Poor innocent child... She would suffer in the hands of such a vile man as a weapon for him to grand more power. He would force her to unlock a power she didn't possess and Oscar's feelings were mixed. He was relieved that that his own child had escaped that terrible fate but he also felt remorse for condemning another innocent child to a fate worse than death.

"My precious Nessarose! You shall make me the most powerful man in all of Oz!"

 _Oh how wrong he was..._

* * *

 ** _Please please please review..._**


	4. Chapter 4 : 18 years later

**_Hello!_**

 ** _I should be updating Deep Velvet Darkness but for some reason I'm stuck. I don't like the new chapter so I rewrite it again and again. It will probably be up tomorrow. For now, I have a lot of ideas for this story, along with many ideas for other stories, so here is a chapter on the Curse of the Green Rose. Here we inspect Elphaba's relationship with Nanny-Cattery and Glinda and her thoughts on her powers. Next chapter we see Fiyero. Fiyeraba will develop a lot differently than my other story._**

 ** _So enjoy and if you like what you read please please please Review! It would make me so happy!_**

 ** _Love,_**

 ** _Katria_**

* * *

 _The Vinkus, December 1588_

She woke up as early as she could almost every morning since she could remember herself. Sunrise was her favorite part of the day. It meant that another day was about to begin and that people had another chance to live and enjoy this world. It meant that she had been graced with another peaceful day.

From a very young age she had learnt to appreciate the tiniest pleasures of life. Sunrises and sunsets, the waves of the sea, the soft summer breeze, the fresh grass, the wonderful flowers in her garden, her books ... Those were the things that made her happy.

She was a lonely child most of her life. She didn't socialize much and had very few friends. Actually, she only had one friend who she loved and trusted. And she also loved her cat, Malkey, and her Nanny.

As the first irises of sunrise peaked through her window and caressed her skin, she opened her eyes with a soft smile and stood up. In a matter of seconds she was up and the curtains on her window were wide open. Soon, she was watching the colors on the sky changing from dark blue to purple and indigo and silvery orange to light blue. Small fluffy white clouds decorated the sky and she smiled at the thought that this day was so wonderful.

It was her birthday today. She was turning eighteen and that was enough to both excite her and make her feel dreadful. Eighteen years had passed since the day she was born, from today on she would be considered an adult but she would still be an imprisoned child.

After watching the sun rising, she started getting ready for her day. She found a simple purple frock to wear and went to her full length mirror to brush her hair and see if she looked alright. All the while she was thinking about her birthday.

Eighteen years had passed since she had been born. Eighteen years had passed since her mother had died giving birth to her. She had been told by Nanny that her mother was a beautiful and elegant woman, that she had more kindness in her little finger than most people possessed in their whole body. Nanny had confessed that she hadn't known Elphaba's mother for long but she was sure of Melena's beautiful soul. She had also said that Elphaba looked exactly like her mother.

She was considerably beautiful, one could say. She wasn't the regular Vinkun beauty or the fair Gillikin lady, but she was beautiful in a darker and more unique way. She had long ebony black wavy hair that ended with a gentle curl just above her waist. She was tall for a woman but not so tall as to not be able to stand beside a mediocre sized man. Her figure was slim but not too skinny. She had very slight curves compared to the Vinkun women but she considered her body good for her age.

Her facial features were sharp yet elegant and kind. Her nose was pointy but not too pointy and definitely not round. Her lips were thin yet capable of the brightest smile; a smile that only her best friend and Nanny had ever witnessed.

She wasn't a vain person. Caring for her appearance had been the least of her worries. But sometimes, she liked to sit back and watch her reflexion in the mirror. The way her facial expressions changed, the way her locks cascaded down her back, the way her eyes sparkled in the morning light... Looking at her reflection made her believe that her mother was there with her. Nanny had said that they had the same hair and the same eyes.

Her eyes were exquisite, she concluded seconds later. They had the most overwhelming shade of brown and if someone noticed better, they weren't even brown. They had a golden tone, warm like chocolate and smoldering like amber, with flickers of green there and then. Nanny called the color green-amber and she liked the sound of it.

After getting ready for the day, she walked out of her room and into the kitchen. Nanny hadn't woken up yet. She was older now and she got tired more easily which meant that she needed more sleep.

They had lived a peaceful life so far, just the two of them in a small house in the center of the Vinkus capital. The city of Parse Vis was a beautiful place and life in a big city granted them anonymity compared to life in small villages. All those years, after escaping Munchkinland, Nanny had been the perfect mother figure for Elphaba. Their neighbors thought that Elphaba was Nanny's granddaughter and they had let it be like that. Their story was very convincing and heartbreaking and no one would dare question them; if anyone were to ask, Nanny had the perfect believable story.

 _"My daughter, Elphaba's mother, lost her dear husband during a hunting trip into the woods and later she herself died in childbirth. I took my granddaughter and we left our old home because it was too painful for me to be living in the same house my daughter had died in. "_

It definitely sounded better than saying : _"Elphaba is a prophesied child who can say the future and has magical abilities. An evil Governor from Munchkinland was chasing her to use her powers so we fled Munchkinland and came to the Vinkus to hide. We aren't related in any way but Elphaba's mother died in childbirth and I was the midwife."_

Eighteen years ago, Cattery Spunge, nowadays known as Nanny, had read Melena's diary and all her questions had been answered. She had been very lucky that she had met Elphaba's father when she had met him and not only because her life had been saved and he had given her enough money to start over and spent at least two comfortable years. She had been lucky because that diary had ended up in her hands and not the Governors. Oh... The secrets she had learnt by reading it...The details she had found out were not only a danger to Elphaba's safety. They had also been useful in aiding Elphaba control her powers.

Elphaba didn't know the depths of her powers and she also didn't know the details concerning the single green rose mark on her thigh. It was a minor little detail that somehow made her special and different from anyone else. Nanny hadn't told everything she knew about the hidden power within her because a child wouldn't be able to comprehend it. She had also decided to give Elphaba the diary when she would turn eighteen. The diary would explain everything.

The plan had worked just fine till Elphaba turned six years old. Until then she had been a careless, lively child, with many friends, love and happiness in her life. For the time being, her powers were "asleep" in some way, waiting for a special moment to reveal themselves.

And that moment came in the form of a rescue mission of Nanny. The old woman wanted to go to the market one day, when Elphaba was six years old, but the girl wouldn't let her go. Elphaba had stood in front of the door and refused to let the old woman go to the market. Nanny had been furious with the little girl and when she had asked her why she couldn't go, Elphaba had given her a shocking answer.

 _"A driver will lose control of his cart today and the cart will fall and hurt you if you go there."_

Nanny of course had laughed it off, forgetting for a moment that Elphaba would develop the power to tell the future. She would have left and go to the market but when Elphaba had burst into tears she couldn't have left her little girl so distressed. She still hadn't believed the stupid tale though. So, imagine her surprise when there was a knock on her door an hour later and her neighboring friend, Madame Fraust, had told her the shocking news of a driver losing control of his cart in the market and running over a woman. At that moment she knew that Elphaba's powers had started awakening.

The second incident had been a year later. Elphaba was in the kitchen, drawing with her colorful crayons and Nanny was cooking. Out of the blue, the girl had stopped what she was doing and had looked up at her guardian.

 _"In two days you will be sitting on that table and Madame Fraust will be sitting next to you and she will be crying. In her house, Mr Fraust will be laying on his bed motionless, probably sleeping."_

That was exactly how Elphaba had described Mr Fraust's sudden death and how Nanny would try to comfort a heartbroken Madame Fraust. After that incident, many more followed. She could describe whole scenes as if she was watching a theatrical play and she could describe things that weren't possible for a child to describe. She could knew everything that was coming in the short future; from the five white puppies that the neighbor's dog gave birth to the fire that burst in the Great Kells.

And it was exactly then that Nanny knew she had to protect Elphaba in a more intimate way. Every time Elphaba saw the future, she rarely saw the beautiful side of life. Her visions of the future contained death, depression, distraction, misery... She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming to make the images and the voices in her head go away. She would beg for the voices to leave her alone and she would cry every time she predicted a saddening event.

Slowly, Elphaba distanced herself from her friends and social life in her school. She became lonely and preferred the company of her books, her music and her garden. She rarely left the house if she didn't have to go to school, visit the library or help Nanny with the groceries. She liked being alone because then she could focus on something else besides the visions and could control what she saw. She only had one good friend, only one friend that she trusted and that was only because Glinda Upland had been far too persistent to remain best friends, when Elphaba had started distancing herself from everyone.

Glinda Upland was the exact opposite of Elphaba. She was charmingly popular, sociable and bubbly. She was also a typical Gillikenesse beauty with her shoulder length perfectly perfect blond curls, creamy complexion, petite hight and curves. Glinda was perfect in every way. She could be friends with whomever she wanted and be courted by the most handsome guys. Yet, she had stuck by Elphaba's side for years and the two were inseparable like sisters.

That was because they were both strangers. In a city and a school full of Vinkuns, they were the only girls from Gillikin. (Elphaba was from Munchkinland but Nanny had lied about their origins too, in an attempt to erase their tracks completely). So, they had stuck together from the very first moment and had been best friends for as long as they could remember.

However, Glinda, was unaware of her friend's power. There had been many times when Elphaba had almost spilled the truth but each time she had held her tongue back. Nanny had insisted that no one- not even sweet and caring Glinda- could know of her gift. It would be dangerous for all of them if word reached someone who would like to use Elphaba's power.

The years passed in silence and peace. Elphaba had her Nanny as a mother figure, she had Glinda to cheer her up and give her those stupid makeovers, she had learnt how to play the piano, she was a model student at school and she had read more books than the public library could display. Eighteen-year-old Elphaba, was an intelligent and beautiful young lady with a weird quirk in magic and a curse to predict the future- thank goodness she had found a way to block the visions and the glimpses of future events from her mind.

"Morning Fabala!" Elphaba had been making breakfast when Nanny entered the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Good morning Nanny!" the young lady said with a kind smile and walked over to the old woman, holding a plate with deliciously looking pancakes with fruits. She left the plate in front of Nanny, along with a cup full of the best Vinkun coffee of the market. Vinkun coffee was the reason why Nanny didn't miss Munchkinland and their stupid tea leafs. Coffee was so much better and stronger than tea- according to her of course.

As Elphaba left the food on the table and was about to go and take her seat opposite Nanny, the old woman called her name and, before she knew it, she was enveloped in a tight embrace.

"Happy birthday my little rose!" The girl hugged her guardian even tighter and felt safe in her loving embrace. Nanny had supported her in all her struggles. She had not only been her mother figure, had fed her had stayed by her side when she was sick, had taught her how to walk and speak and so on. Nanny had managed to pull Elphaba out of her misery when the visions took the best of her. She had helped Elphaba control her magic and keep her secret safe. She was an angel and Elphaba wouldn't have had a better  
person taking care of her.

"Thank you Nanny!"

"Oh, my darling child. You've grown so..." said the woman as they broke the embrace and she cupped Elphaba's cheeks with her palms. "I will never forget the first time I heard you cry in my arms and as dreadful as that day was for the both of us, I will always think of your birth as a blessed day!"

Elphaba couldn't help but chuckle and give her guardian a watery smile. Nanny had told her the story of her birth a few years ago and Elphaba had cried for days, thinking that it had been her fault that her mother had died in childbirth. However, Nanny, having read Melena's diary, knew that it wasn't that case. The reasons behind Melena's weakness to give birth as well as her death, had more to do with her effort not to have any children while being married to the Governor. But Elphaba couldn't have known back then.

"I have a gift for you but it can wait until later. Let's eat now, before Glinda bursts in the house and screams _'Oh my goodness Elphie it's your birthday. I have to give you a makeover and then take you outside to have fun!'_ Seriously Fabala, that girl has no respect for my old ears!" said Nanny and the two started eating happily.

"She has no respect of my ears either. Though, I am kind of immune to her bubbliness by now!"

Barely a minute passed and Elphaba hadn't even eaten half of her pancake when the door of their house burst open with a loud thud.

"Oh my goodness Elphie it's your birthday. I have to give you a makeover and then take you outside to have fun!" A giggling vision in a simple pink gown entered the kitchen and happily ran to embrace Elphaba. Glinda had long ago stopped knocking at the door since the Spunge house was like her second home. Elphaba and she would spend so many days together in Elphaba's house that Glinda was almost like a permanent resident and knocking wasn't needed.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Elphie! Happy birthday to you!" the bubbly blonde started singing loudly while moving Elphaba back and forth in a breathtaking embrace. Elphaba was enjoying the love she was receiving, even if it meant that she couldn't breath, and Nanny was barely holding her laughter at the two girls.

"Thank you Glin! You are wonderful!" she managed to mumble after being released from the bone crashing hug.

The blonde giggled at Elphaba's comment. "Of course I am wonderful my darling. That is exactly why you are going upstairs to change clothes and wear something more ozmazing than this purple frock and come with me to have fun. We'll go to the market and then we'll go to that new patisserie that I saw on the street and then we can..." Glinda trailed off when she saw the not so enthusiastic face of Elphaba. The girl wasn't beaming in happiness as any birthday girl would do. She seemed deep in thought and enveloped in a strange misery that was familiar to Glinda. The blonde had thought that this year would be different but apparently she was mistaken.

"Elphie please what's wrong?" she asked as she embraced her friend softly this time. Glinda knew what was wrong but she still refused to acknowledge it.

"I'm not in the mood for celebrations Glin! I'm sorry!" muttered Elphaba and Glinda caught Nanny's sad look from over the table. Nanny felt a burning sensation over her cheek and realized that a few tears had escaped her eyes. Thinking of Elphaba's condition always brought tears in her eyes. However, she never allowed Elphaba to see her crying. So, she gave Glinda another nod and made her way out of the small kitchen.

"Elphie, we've had this conversation for years now. Your mother wouldn't want you to mourn every time it's your birthday. She would want you to celebrate and have fun. She would want you to be happy for living!" Elphaba sat on an empty chair with a thoughtful expression on her face, her arms falling limp on her sides.

"I'm happy for living Glinda. I'm grateful everyday that I survived because up until now my life has been good. I have Nanny and I have you and my job and I'm truly happy." She gave a long sigh before continuing. "But I cannot celebrate my birthday. It doesn't feel right to have the time of my life on the day that my mother gave her last breath to save me. I'm so sorry Glin! Maybe we can celebrate another time! Your birthday isn't so far away, is it?"

"Oh silly Elphie!" sighed Glinda and made to hug her best friend. "My birthday is so far away from now. But I promise you that in six months time we'll have the biggest celebration the Vinkus has ever seen!"

"I thought that the biggest celebration in the Vinkus was Prince Fiyero's birthday!" Elphaba's attempt at a joke only caused Glinda's giggles. Thankfully their hug had broken so Elphaba's eardrums were safe. At least for the time being...

"Such a pity we're never invited to his swankified parties!" said Glinda with a frown after a while and stuffed a cookie in her mouth. Nanny always had cookies on the table and it was well known that Nanny's cookies were the best cookies in the world. Even Glinda, who was on a constant "diet to remain perfect" would sneak one or two in her pockets when no one was watching.

"Yes Glin! Because your best friend just loves parties so much!" exclaimed Elphaba in mocked distress and both the girls laughed, their previous topic- Elphaba's nonexistent birthday party- forgotten.

* * *

Much to Elphaba's dismay her birthday was actually celebrated though in a very quiet manner and with no one else- except Glinda- managing to say the words "Happy Birthday!"

Behind her back, Nanny and Glinda had organized a small dinner, nothing fancy, to spend the evening with the people they loved. Madame Fraust and her daughter, Nanny, Glinda's parents, Glinda herself and Elphaba were gathered on Nanny's house and they had a quiet dinner. Elphaba tolerated the event because it was something that happened quite regularly. It was common for them to eat dinner together and they didn't need Elphaba's birthday to do so.

After their familiar friends left, Elphaba helped Nanny to clean the dining table and the kitchen. They cleaned the dishes and swept the floor in complete silence and by the time they ha finished in was an hour before midnight. As the clock struck eleven they exchanged a meaningful look and Nanny took Elphaba's hand in her own and the two women left the house side by side.

It was very dark outside. Not a single soul was walking at the empty streets of the Vinkun capital and the two women dressed in black cloaks made their way to the city's cemetery with ease. It wasn't that they didn't want anyone seeing them or that they couldn't visit the old cemetery in the morning. However, for the past years, since Elphaba turned ten years old, going in the cemetery at night before the end of Elphaba's birthday day had been their secret habit.

It had been Elphaba's idea to find a spot of earth and make her mother a small gravestone. The grave underneath was empty since Nanny had buried Melena back in her old cottage in Munchkinland. Nanny had always felt guilty of not giving Melena a proper funeral so when Elphaba had suggested the idea of making an empty grave in the Vinkus to honor Melena, Nanny had happily agreed.

The two women arrived at the cemetery and found the cold grave with ease. They looked at the stone and before she knew it, Elphaba was on her knees and her fingers were trailing the lines of the elegant letters on the cold stone.

 _Melena Skylar-Diggs_  
1545- 1569  
 _Beloved Mother_

Nanny heard a sniffle from the young girl and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Your friend is right you know Fabala. Your mother would have wanted you to be happy, not mop around every time it's your birthday!" Of course, the older woman knew that her words were empty and sounded shallow. She herself had usual nightmares of the day she had found poor Melena in a pool of blood. She didn't blame Elphaba of mourning when she herself mourned every night for the last eighteen years.

Elphaba ignored the words though and took a small candle from an inside pocket of her cloak. She placed then placed the candle on the gravestone and with a flicker of her hand she lit it. A small sad smile crept upon her thin lips at the thought of how handy magic could come once in a while.

As she always did when visiting Melena's empty grave at the anniversary of her death, Nanny murmured a quick prayer- knowing that Elphaba wasn't quite so religious- and then placed a red rose on the grave. A wave of fresh air passed through the two women and Nanny felt as if Melena was talking to her. A sweet soft voice was singing an inaudible song in her old ears and the voice was as melodic as the purest bells of paradise.

 _"Thank you!"_ Nanny heard the words clearly and she looked at Elphaba who had just left her own rose on the grave.

"I love you mama!" muttered Elphaba and the breeze passed by them again.

 _"I love you too my little emerald!"_ It was Elphaba who heard the heavenly voice this time and she hold the sound deep in her heart and mind.

"Fabala my darling?" Nanny's voice interrupted the echoing silence of the cemetery and of Elphaba's thoughts. So the girl turned around to face her guardian.

"This is yours!". In all her eighteen years of life, Elphaba had always waited for this moment to arrive; the moment Nanny would finally give to her Melena's diary. As she looked at the leather bound book she felt several shivers running down her spine and a knot in her stomach.

"Your father trusted me with this diary and the truths I've read are what saved our lives for so long. Now it's up to you to keep the diary safe and to read everything your mother knew about the birthmark and about your talent."

"My curse!"

"What?" Nanny blinked several times and looked at Elphaba with raised eyebrows.

"My curse Nanny!" the younger woman spat the words venomously, her dark eyes betraying her pain over her terrible fate. "It's not a gift. It's not a talent. I'm cursed and we both know it, so stop denying the truth you've known for eighteen years."

Elphaba looked down at her feet and started playing with the hem of her dress, not really sure of what to do with her hands. She had felt cursed for years now no diary could ease her distress. Seeing the future- a dark, painful and unpleasant future- was a terrible fate for a child and a young woman of her sensitivity. Hiding her so called "gift" had been a burden but she couldn't allow anyone to know or even guess who she truly was.

A gentle and comforting hand lifted her chin and Elphaba looked up to the woman who she called her grandmother and her guardian angel.

"You are well protected here. You have been for several years now and you shall be for more to come. No one knows you and no one will ever know. And as long as your identity is safe, your magic quirk can be a gift. Use it to see the bright side of the future and to protect yourself and those you hold dear. Your mother", she said and handed the diary to Elphaba, " explains that you can use your parodical knowledge of the future to make good."

"My mother had never had knowledge of the future. She did not have my gift, as you put it. She was a simple woman." Elphaba was clasping the diary so tightly in her hands and her knuckles had turned deadly white from the force.

"Read the diary Elphaba and then you shall understand. Your mother was no random woman. She knew what she was doing and she knew what was to be done to protect the child she would bare. Only one woman in every seven generations can have the gift to tell the future but all of them have magic. Read and see for your self." With these words she turned on her heel and left the cemetery and Elphaba all alone behind her.

The girl was now on the cold floor, curled at the side of the grave, hot tears running down her eyes. She opened the first page of the diary and instead of reading, she caressed the old paper with her mother's elegant handwriting.

"I hope you give me the answers I seek mama! Please help me!"

At some point her eyes closed and she fell asleep beside her mother's empty grave in the cold cemetery.

When she woke up, two hours later, a woolen made blanked was safely wrapped around her.


	5. Chapter 5: The stranger

_**Hello people!**_

 _ **Isn't summer such a wonderful time of the year. Oh my Oz it's so hot and the sun is burning my skin and it's turning it from fair to red. But still I love summer. In two days I'll learn the results of my final exams and I'll make my application form for university. Then I'm going on vacation on a greek island alled Serifos with my friends. So before leaving I decided to update this story. For some reason I have more inspiration for this story than my other one.**_

 _ **So, thanks to anyone who's reading and reviewing. It means so much to me and it gives me courage to write more.**_

 _ **Love,**_

 _ **Katria**_

 _ **P.S.: I own nothing!**_

* * *

It may have or may not have been mentioned that Elphaba had a job; a job she truly loved and enjoyed.

Elphaba and Nanny were far from rich but they were doing well. From the moment that Nanny had come to the Vinkus she had struggled to find a job and take care of Elphaba, using Oscar's money only when she absolutely needed it. Nanny ended up as a piano teacher. Piano wasn't a common musical instrument in the Vinkus and wealthy families had hired Nanny to teach their daughters how to play. The middle aged woman had truly been thankful of her good breeding and her mother's insistence to teach her proper etiquette and manners. With those piano lessons she had made just enough to take care of Elphaba and their home.

Now that she was very old and couldn't work anymore, Elphaba had searched for a job and she had easily found one. She worked at the local bookshop- a fact that had made Glinda laugh for ages.

 _"It is only my dear Elphie that would be happy to work at a bookshop!"_ she had said mockingly, knowing how much Elphaba loved books and reading. Glinda's relationship with books was the same as her relationship with the color black; nonexistent. On the contrary, Elphaba loved reading more than anything in the world and working at the bookshop gave her a chance to be around all the knowledge she could gather.

She had been lucky at finding a job there. The bookshop wasn't exactly the most famous store in the Vinkun capital since the Vinkuns weren't as kin on knowledge as their King and Queen. The two royals had opened more schools than the other royals around the land and they had struggled to change the old ways, which wanted the people as illiterate sheep. But the people weren't so enthusiastic for learning. Even the Crown Prince was rumored to be brainless and with no care for learning. But even though the most of the people didn't read, there was still a bookshop and it was the only bookshop in the capital so people who wanted to learn got their books from there.

The bookshop was owned by an old university professor who had lost his job a few years ago. He was an Animal, a Goat actually, and he had been a well respected professor of history in Shiz University, a male university in Munchkinland. A few years ago though, the Governor of Munchkinland had blamed the Animals for a deathly decease that had spread around the country and Doctor Dillamond, along with other Animals, had fled to the Vinkus for safety.

Elphaba had been Doctor Dillamond's most regular customer and occasionally his student. Elphaba's love for history and knowledge had been inspired the moment she heard Doctor Dillamond speaking about the wonders of the world. She admired and respected the old Goat and even Glinda- who was indifferent to Animals and their rights- liked him. She had even changed her name to make it easier for Doctor Dillamond to pronounce had previously been called Galinda but now she was just Glinda.

Once Elphaba had graduated from school, Doctor Dillamond had asked her to help him in the shop since he was now old and couldn't work for long hours as he once did. Elphaba had taken the job offer immediately and was happy to help her old tutor whenever he needed her help. She felt pride for being chosen by him to work in the bookshop- her favorite place in the Vinkun capital.

Nothing special had happened that day. Elphaba had woken up, eaten breakfast with Nanny and then she had walked to work. In the evening she would go for a walk with Glinda on the nearby park. Just a normal day in her life.

It was a rather busy day at the market but the bookstore was -not surprisingly empty. It was summer and school had just started, which meant that children were in no need of books and equipment and Elphaba's days were particularly calm. All she had to do was to rearrange the books on the bookshelves and clean the dust. She didn't really mind cleaning as she knew that Doctor Dillamond couldn't do it.

Once she had finished her cleaning, she decided that she should rest a bit and read a book herself. The few customers who had entered the shop earlier that day were now gone, after purchasing a few novels and an encyclopedia. Now, it was time for Elphaba to read what she liked and relax for a bit.

She sat comfortably on her chair behind the counter and lost herself in the magic of her novel. It was an adventure with a bit of romance and it guaranteed a happy ending- an ending she was sure she wasn't going to get. She felt more vulnerable and weak than ever. Her efforts to block the visions of the future were more and more frequent and her magic grew stronger. Strong magic was difficult to hide and if the Vinkuns found out her secret they would use her "gift" for evil.

As she read the book, she realized that there was something else she should be reading but refused to do so for months. Her eighteenth birthday had passed many months ago and she still hadn't dared to open her mother's diary. She was afraid of what she would find there and though she needed to know more about her powers, she refused reading the diary.

The black notebook in the form of the diary was constantly in her bag, mocking her and daring her to read it but every time she dared to open the cover, a more coward part of her brave self would force her hands to close it again.

 _Ring Ring_

A sound broke Elphaba's chain of thoughts and she abruptly looked up to the door that had opened and closed a few seconds ago.

"Please miss, hide me anywhere!"

She blinked several times to realize that in front of her was standing a young man, obviously exhausted from running.

"Please Miss! Hide me anywhere!" he said again. The mischievousness in his eyes caught her a bit off guard but she managed to find her senses soon and stood up from her chairs.

"Come here! In the back room!" She motioned for him to follow her and the young man run to the open door Elphaba had shown him. Only when he was safely behind the door did she looked outside the shop windows and saw a few soldiers running around the market. A soldier took notice of her and though at first he seemed angry and annoyed, once he saw her, he sent her a charming smile. Elphaba was used to these signs. Glinda had told her numerous times how beautiful she was and in times like this, when she was using a possible criminal in her back room, she would need her charm and beauty.

She noticed that the soldiers entered all the other shops around the market except the bookshop and she mentally smirked. She was curious as to why but she didn't think about it for long. Once they were out of sight she breathed in relief and went to see who was the young man they were looking for.

She knocked on the wooden door twice before the young man answered.

"Are they gone?" Elphaba sighed in exasperation and nodded before answering.

"Yes they are! The space is clear Monsieur!" Before she would finish her sentence the door opened and the young man who had suddenly barked in the bookshop was revealed.

"Thank goodness!" he said and leaned against the nearby wall. He rested his head on the wall and started taking deep breaths to calm himself down. And that gave Elphaba enough time to examine him.

He was tall, she could say; at least a head and a half taller than her and he was also well built. She could see his muscles from underneath his thin summer shirt. His hair was light brown,more like dark blond, and his eyes were a dazzling blue color, the color of sapphires. He was all in all a very handsome young man, probably one or two years older than her, and he looked nothing like a criminal. The playful grin on his lips as he breathed in and out betrayed only amusement and no fear for the soldiers who had broke into every single shop to search for him.

"Thank you Mademoiselle! I will be forever grateful to your kindness!" Elphaba blinked again and shook her head, breaking her intense gaze on him. He must have been staring at her too, without her realizing it, because his eyes were still following the curves of her body under her unfashionable dress and the waves of her raven locks. He seemed dazzled by her and she heard a small giggling voice in her head whispering "I told you that you're beautiful." The voice sounded suspiciously like Glinda.

"You're welcome Monsieur!" she answered. "But since I saved you, as you put it, would you mind telling me why the royal guard was after you?"

The handsome young man- because he was actually the most handsome man she had ever seen- chuckled and his sweet laugh filled her ears.

"I'm serious! Why were they after you?" Suddenly she felt stupid for helping him without knowing a single thing about him. He could be a criminal for all she knew or he could be a thief and murderer. Her expression got serious all of a sudden and she made several steps back. The man noticed this and made a step her way.

"Hey Mademoiselle don't be scared!" Elphaba eyed him up and down, her eyes scanning his features and finding gentleness and sincerity.

"I don't mean you any harm Mademoiselle. I'm no criminal, truly!" It was then she relaxed a bit; but just a tiny little bit.

"So, why were they chasing you?" she asked sternly. She was still stiff and her expression was deathly serious. However, a small smile made its way on the man's lips.

"Well, I may not be a criminal, as you think, but I'm certainly a troublemaker and let's just say that I had a bit of funny business down the road and the guards enjoyed the spectacle!"

"You didn't steal anything, did you?" asked Elphaba again but this time her expression was softer.

"Nope! I just danced in the middle of the road and since I work in the palace, my behavior was considered unacceptable. Far too stupid if you ask me!" At this Elphaba laughed. It was a stiff laugh but her face broke into a smile.

"You look the dancing part but I wouldn't take you as someone who works in the palace. You don't look like a servant at all!" He chuckled at her observation and Elphaba found herself drawn to his smile more and more as the minutes passed.

"I'm not a servant who cleans Mademoiselle. There are many kinds of servants in the palace! I happen to be..." he trailed off and looked at her a bit nervously. "Prince Fiyero's personal assistant!" he concluded with pride.

"That's great! Send my regards to his royal highness!" Every fiber of her voice was filled with sarcasm and the young man noticed this. He smiled a bit sadly, but covered it quickly. He then hopped on and sat on the counter desk.

"Hey, don't sit there!" Elphaba snapped. And the young man gave her a lopsided grin.

"Oh come on, I'm tired!"

"Your problem! Stand up!" Elphaba ordered a bit more forcefully and the young man poured his lips before standing on his feet again.

"I just realized Mademoiselle, I don't know your name!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why should I tell you my name? I don't even know yours!"

The young man flashed her a handsome smile. "You are smart and sneaky... and persuasive!"

"It is only fair!" If Elphaba hadn't know any better she would be absolutely certain that she was flirting with a stranger; and a handsome stranger whose name she didn't know and who seemed to be flirting back. She abruptly shook her head, pushing away all thoughts of romance and decided that she should spent less time with Glinda and her romantic themes.

"I'm Fi... I'm Feryio!" he said with a charming smile that almost melted her heart. She didn't notice his small slip up so she smiled back at him. "Your turn! Your name my lady?"

"I'm Elphaba!"

"Elphaba!" He tested her name in his tongue and gently kissed her right hand like a gentleman. "Beautiful name. Just as beautiful as the lady who bares it!"

Elphaba tried to hide her blush in vain. "Well, aren't you the charmer Master Feryio?"

"More charming than the Prince, I assure you Lady Elphaba!" Elphaba looked into his sapphire eyes and was petrified. His gaze was so intense and deep that she almost lost herself in it. She didn't even knew him. He would be a liar, a criminal, a pervert, a con artist and she didn't even seem to care. It was the first time she had felt this way; so lost and confused. It was exciting and at the same time alarming. This wasn't like her at all.

The moment was broken though. As soon as it had started it had come to an end, when the door of the shop opened and a customer entered.

Their gaze broke and Feryio made a step back. Elphaba turned her look at the customer, an elderly woman with a child at her side and bid her good morning. The woman said that she was just looking around the fairytale section and that she would ask for her looks if she needed any. So Elphaba returned her attention to Yero. The young man cleared his throat and smiled at her distress. He then picked up a random book from a nearby self and placed it on the counter.

"How much for this?" he asked her like a normal customer and not a sudden intruder.

"Twenty sestertius!" Elphaba hurriedly answered and Feryio placed the money on the counter. As Elphaba handed him the book, wrapped in a small package, he leaned a bit closer to her to whisper in her ear.

"Meet me tomorrow night at eight o'clock in the central fountain."

The only thing Elphaba could do was nod in both confusion and excitement.

He then took her hand again and kissed it gently. "Until then Lady Elphaba!" and he was out of the shop.

"Until then!" Elphaba whispered to no one.

* * *

"I met someone today!"

"WHAT?" Glinda's shriek was enough to pierce Elphaba's ears as well as the ears of anyone who happened to be passing by.

The two girl were having their occasional evening walk in the park and now they were sitting in a bench under their favorite cherry blossom tree. Glinda had been talking about a tea party she had attended with her mother and about the new fabric she had bought for her birthday dress; not that she was rich or belonged in the high society. She just liked to take care of her appearance and image and look her best. She was also in a better economical situation than Elphaba and Nanny. It was only when they sat down and Glinda had described every single detail of the fabric that Elphaba decided to talk about her earlier meeting with the handsome stranger.

She told Glinda all about their strange meeting and the blonde was ecstatic.

"Alright, alright! I want to know... hair and eye color, built, age, job, name and how charming he was from one to ten!" she asked in her exciting bubbly way and Elphaba would have slapped herself for mentioning it, if she didn't want to get her strange feelings out of her chest.

"Well, his name is Feryio. He has sapphire blue eyes and light brown hair, he is well built and probably one or two years older than us. He is prince Fiyero's personal assistant!" Elphaba took a deed breath before adding the last detail. "And he is incredibly charming!"

"Wow! Elphie you're so so so lucky . If he is handsome and charming and has a job close to the Crown Prince then lick has finally knocked in your door."

Elphaba frowned. Her friend had always been a hopeless romantic and she always saw the good in everyone. For Glinda everything was white and black ( or rather light pink and dark pink). Someone was either good or bad, kindhearted or wicked. But Elphaba was a bit more realistic and she knew that being handsome and charming didn't mean that Yero was a good person. For all she knew he could be the worst man on earth.

"I don't even know him Glinda. We talked for a few minutes and then he suddenly asked, rather demanded, to see me again. I've never done this before Glin. I didn't even knew I was flirting until it was too late to go back!"

Glinda giggled and tapped Elphaba's nose with her finger. "Silly Elphie! This Yero was obviously smitten by you and he sounds like a gentleman!"

"A gentleman who danced in the middle of the street and forced the royal guards to chase him!"

"No one is perfect!" concluded the blonde as she looked at her perfect nails. "Except for me but that's for another conversation." Elphaba groaned but commented nothing on Glinda's modesty. She knew her best friend well so as not to pick such a fight with her.

"So, what should I do? Should I go to the meeting place? Take in mind that I barely know him and he barely knows me. And I'm a boring bookworm and the most antisocial person in the entire Vinkus!"

"The question my lovely Elphie is if you want to see your stranger Yero again!" Glinda said with a wink.

The other girl answered with a silent nod.

* * *

The next day Elphaba went at the bookshop to work as early as always. Surprisingly it was a busy day but Elphaba didn't enjoyed it at all. She was counting the hours till her meeting with Feryio and as the moments passed she felt more and more anxious. What was wrong with her? Why was she blushing? Why was she tipsy and by was her heart floating in cloud nine? She didn't even know the guy and she acted like she was going on a date.

According to Glinda, it was indeed a date; or Glinda wanted an excuse to give her a makeover.

Once she closed the shop at four in the evening, she went to Glinda's house to get ready for her "date". She had told Nanny that she would spend the night at Glinda's which was partially true. Glinda would give her a makeover, then she would meet Yero for a few hours and later she would sleep at Glinda's to tell her all the details about her date. For some reason she didn't want to tell Nanny about Feryio. It was stupid really, but Nanny would get overprotective and suspicious and Elphaba wanted to feel normal just for one night. She didn't want to worry about green roses, prophecies, secrets and magic just for one night. She wanted to live what every girl deserved to experience.

The makeover hadn't last for long- thank goodness for that. Glinda had decided that Elphaba should be herself and had encouraged the girl to be simple and natural. She ended up wearing a navy blue summer dress that reached her knees and was floating like a waterfall around her feet and she marched the dress with black flats. Her make up was natural, with a little bit of mascara to enlighten her already gorgeous amber eyes and rose lip gloss. Her hair were left loose and curly down her back and to her waist. She felt confident and beautiful and Glinda was very proud of her for going on her first date.

Glinda gave her several good advice for her first date and told her to be just a little bit late. Elphaba followed that advice but not exactly. She appeared at the fountain in the central square only five minutes late and was shocked to see a smiling Feryio waiting for her patiently.

If she had liked him the previous day, she was absolutely sure that she would soon fall in love with him. He looked very handsome in his dark blue pants and white shirt with the short sleeves.

His smile the moment he laid eyes on her was priceless. He seemed lost in her appearance and he took in all of her beautiful characteristics. In his eyes she was perfect...

For a few seconds no one spoke. The awkwardness of the situation was terrifying and Elphaba had zero to none experience when it came to this. Finally, he broke the silence...

"You look beautiful Miss Elphaba!" she furiously blushed and allowed a smile to appear on her lips.

"You don't look bad yourself Master Feryio!"

The grins he sent her way made her stomach turn into knots and her legs to melt like candles.

"There's no need for formalities. Just Feryio will do fine!"

"Only if you call me just Elphaba!"

"Great then, Elphaba!" he said and kissed her hand charmingly.

"I'm so happy that you appeared. After our strange meeting yesterday I thought that you would think the worst of me and not appear. I owe you an apology for the way I left yesterday and for... you know... breaking into your shop!"

"It doesn't matter now, really! I wasn't thinking of coming but for some miraculous reason my best friend persuaded me." Elphaba didn't want to show him that she had been so eager to see him again.

"Still, I'm so happy that you appeared Elphaba. I really wanted to see you again!"

Elphaba smiled at him as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "You could always visit the bookshop." He chuckled at her comment but he didn't explain the reason for his amusement.

"Anyway, you came and I'm determined to make this night something special for you. So, shall we?"

"Lead the way!" She hooked her arm with his and together they walked towards a restaurant that he had chosen for the occasion. They sat down on a table and they ordered their food while Yero chose a sweet red wine as a refreshment. She ordered a salad while he ordered a steak with potatoes.

Once their orders were taken and their wine brought, they started talking.

"So, why salad?" Feryio was the first one to break the silence.

"I'm a vegetarian." was Elphaba's haste reply. She was so accustomed to answering that question that she didn't have to think before replying.

Feryio's jaw had dropped and his eyes were wide open.

"You mean you don't eat meat?"

"I don't!" His eyes were as wide as saucers and Elphaba giggled at his reaction. It was obvious that he was a fan of mean.

"And if you don't eat meat you also don't eat..."

"I don't survive with grass and coconuts Feryio. I drink milk and I eat cheese and eggs. I only avoid meat." she explained, having guessed his question. He nodded in understanding.

"How come?" was his next question.

"Well, I grew up with my Nanny and she was a vegetarian because of her religious beliefs or something. Innever understood. Growing up with her I rarely ate meat and once I was grown I refused to eat it at all. Especially after those disgusting rumors of Animals being killed for their meat when they are just like us when it comes to intellectuality." Her explanation was more than enough and the young man noticed her passion about Animals even in those few words. The rumors were indeed coming from from Munchkinland but the Vinkus had become a shelter to Animals and didn't support acts such as eating their meat. But still...

Then Feryio remembered something else from her small monologue. "You said you grew up with your Nanny?"

Elphaba nodded. "My Grandmama. My father died in a hunting trip before I was born and my mother died in childbirth. When she died I was given to my Nanny to be taken care of and since her memories of our homeland were painful, she decided that it would be great to leave Gillikin and move to the Vinkus. Nanny is the only family I have and I'm the only family she has. We've always taken care of each other!"

As her eyes were momentarily filled with sorrow, his eyes were filled with a painful pity for this orphan girl. Guilt started washing upon him for what he was doing but he pushed the thought away. This fighting girl deserved his outmost respect and he was lying...

"Enough about me though. How about you? How is your family?"

Feryio rubbed the back of his neck to hide his nervousness but the words slipped from his mouth easily. In the meantime the food had just arrived and they both started picking on it.

"Nothing special. My father works in the palace. The same goes for my mother. Once I grew up I started working there too and I ended up as the Prince's personal assistant." He wanted to slap himself for his words but he kept on telling himself that what he had said wasn't particularly a lie. His parents indeed worked in the palace and he was indeed interacting with the Prince bit in a different way.

"The Prince huh? My best friend is obsessed with him. She says he is the most handsome man in all of Oz. Is that true?"

Feryio, who had been chewing a potato, almost spit it on his plate. He covered his nervousness with a chuckle and then a cough and Elphaba giggled at his reaction.

"I shouldn't have asked his assistant!" she concluded but he stopped her accusatory tone with his words.

"No no! It's alright!" he assured her. "The Prince is a charismatic man. He is handsome but not the most handsome man of Oz. Come on, the man is stupid and brainless. I spend more than half my day with him and I've never seen anyone as brainless and careless as him. He'll turn the kingdom to ashes with his childish behavior. Most people believe that he is really stupid."

"No! Not really stupid!" If he had guessed that this girl was different and unique before, he was absolutely sure now.

"What do you mean?" he pushed her and took a sip from his wine. Elphaba also took a sip from hers before explaining her point.

"No one is born stupid or brainless. Biologically speaking he has a brain. He just refuses to use it. On the contrary to public opinion, I believe that he is intelligent and that he would be a great prince and later a king if he actually tried. He refuses to put his mind at work." She paused for a minute and took a deep breath. The way Yero was staring at her, like her words were medicine to his deepest wounds, was making her blush and feel nervous. But she liked his attention. Actually she liked him...

"Maybe his brainless behavior, infamous through all of Oz, is just an act. Maybe he is unhappy and doesn't know how to deal with the grave responsibility of being the only heir of the throne. Maybe he only needs someone to show him love and help him unlock this secret locket in his brain."

"Thank you!" he said in awe and though Elphaba didn't know why he had thanked her, she still smiled at him.

Their conversation from then on drifted away from the Vinkun Prince and away from their families. They started talking about the things they liked and enjoyed. Feryio learnt that Elphaba liked reading and that her favorite flowers are the poppies. Elphaba learnt that Feryio liked horse-riding and had a thing for chocolate. As the moments passed Feryio liked Elphaba even more and the same went for her.

After they finished their dinner, they went for a small walk in the park. Then Feryio, like a proper gentleman accompanied Elphaba to her house- Glinda's house actually. When they reached the door they stopped walking and Elphaba turned to him.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Elphaba and the disappointment in his eyes surprised her.

"Pity! I'd love to spend more time with you my fair lady Elphaba!"

She was the one to be surprised now. "You can see me again if you want to." she found herself answering to him. The way his handsome face lit up with the brightest of smiles melted her heart.

"Where and when?" The enthusiastic way in which he spoke made him look younger and brought a childish charm in their encounter.

"The bookshop. Whenever you like!"

"Tomorrow then!" said he and took her hand in his. He gently kissed the front of her palm and Elphaba was thankful for the darkness of the sky, for hiding her blush.

"Goodnight Feryio!" she said as he let go of her hand.

"Goodnight Elphaba!"

And he was gone...

* * *

It must be a coincidence...

It isn't every day that you find your best friend- your antisocial best friend- flirting under your house.

She had expected Elphaba to come to her after the date. They were going to have a sleepover and she was going to force Elphaba to share all the juicy details of her date. She had also expected Elphaba to be accompanied by her date till the house. But she hadn't expected to recognize her handsome beau.

"Maybe it is a coincidence!" she thought again as Elphaba's date kissed her hand. She didn't know him personally but her suspicions about his identity were more or less true.

The question was if Elphaba knew that she had just gone on a date with the most eligible bachelor in all of the Vinkus and maybe all of Oz; the brainless, charming, scandalacious Prince Fiyero Tiggular.

* * *

 _ **Please review review review!**_


	6. Chapter 6: The Prince

**Hello readers!**

 **I'm back with a new chapter and more Fiyeraba. After reading this chapter you may think that their relationship is moving a bit too fast but it cannot be otherwise. I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say that things won't be easy for them in the later chapters.**

 **At the moment they are just two young people experiencing love for the first time. They know nothing of the struggles of life yet. Plus, Elphaba is "normal". Yes, she is a witch but she isn't green which means that she believes in her beauty and doesn't doubt "Feryio's" feelings.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think. I love reading your reviews! They make my day brighter and make me want to continue writing!**

 **Love,**  
 **Katria**

 **P.S: Review**

* * *

He had never felt so alive!

In his twenty years of life, Crown Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus had never felt more alive.

It had all started with a simple attempt to have fun away from the palace. He was rumored to be a brainless idiot and many thought of him as an irresponsible and stupid prince who would one day destroy the kingdom. They were partially true since he had been kicked out of three universities until the day he finally managed to graduate. He preferred throwing parties than studying and he preferred flirting with girls and dancing through life than follow his duties as a prince.

What no one knew was that Fiyero acted this way because he was unhappy. From the moment he was born he was showered in attention and luxury. By the age of two he knew that one day he would be king and he would have to follow certain steps and please certain expectations. People expected from him things that he wasn't ready to give and treated him differently than anyone else.

He received love but he knew that this love wasn't genuine. His parents loved him in their own way. His mother was an over protective one who tried to control every single movement and choice he made as a child. She rarely allowed him to play with other kids and even when his little sister was born, she had made it clear that Fiyero was to be better than her. No matter how smart and how beautiful Princess Serena was, Fiyero would always obviously be the favorite child. His father on the other hand was pressuring him all the time. Fiyero did everything wrong in his father's eyes and even when he did something right the King would always find a flaw. The King and Queen were fair rulers. They ruled their kingdom in justice and their people loved them and respected them. There wasn't a single person in the Vinkus that had to say something bad for the King and Queen.

But as much they had succeeded as rulers, they had miserably failed as parents.

Fiyero, who had been- up until the age of fourteen- the personalization of responsibility, someone who tried to impress his parents, had stopped trying. Since his efforts weren't appreciated he had decided not to bother and to live his life under his own rules. To hell with his title and his duty. To hell with his father's stern look and coldness. To hell with his mother's efforts to keep him away from his little sister. Prince Fiyero started being careless and pretending to be brainless. He was dancing through life and he loved it. Or actually, he pretended to love it.

His parents soon started noticing his behavior and their disapproval was obvious. However, it was too late for him to change. He managed to graduate university with much difficulty but in the end he was still dancing through life.

No matter how sociable and how communicative he was, Fiyero had no friends; at least not many friends. His only genuine friend was his cousin Paro and that was because they had grown up together. Any other person who approached him, did so because they wanted to rise socially. They wanted to befriend the Crown Prince, not Fiyero. No one cared for who he truly was underneath his status. All they cared about was to gain power and status beside the future king.

The same went for girls. Girls all around the Vinkus and even all around Oz were fascinated by his status. They indeed considered him handsome and charming but the real reason they approached him was because he was a catch. Who wouldn't want to be dating the Prince? Who wouldn't want to become the Queen of the Vinkus?

But Fiyero wanted to know what true love felt like. Under all his façade he was sweet and dreamed of falling in love with the girl of his dreams. He dreamt that a girl would love him unconditionally without a single care that he was the Prince of the Vinkus.

He believed that's there was no such a perfect girl, a girl that would like him with his flaws and a girl without a care about him being royalty. Well, apparently he had been mistaken.

It was one of those rare days when he would manage to get away from his royal duties. Since he had come back from university, his parents had tried to minimize his dancing through life phase by locking him in the palace and forcing unbelievably difficult royal tasks at him. But that day, he had got dressed as a commoner and had managed to escape the palace in silence. He dreaded to spend another day with his judgmental parents and his annoying royal counselors. That was why he had escaped; just for one day.

Getting away from the palace,though, isn't an easy task; especially when your little sister spies on you and alarms the guards.

Fiyero had barely enjoyed a few hours of freedom when the guards spotted him. A game of hide and seek started and Fiyero got lost in the marketplace. The guards were following him into the crowd not even knowing how smart and flexible Fiyero was. He willfully mislead them and in the end he managed to find the perfect hiding place, a place they would never think to look in for him- the bookstore. Why would the brainless Prince Fiyero ever enter a bookstore?

Hiding there had been the most wonderful and most dreadful thing he had ever done in his life. Because of that hiding place, he had met the most beautiful girl he had ever seen- a girl that knew not of his identity and cared not about his title. At the same time though he had become the greatest liar in Vinkun history.

His name was now Feryio and he was the Prince's personal assistant. He was also Elphaba's new friend.

 _Elphaba_

He had never seen a woman more beautiful than Elphaba. From her shiny porcelain white complexion, to her raven locks and her amber eyes, Elphaba Spugne was a beauty of a unique kind. Her rare smile lit his world. The golden glimmer in her eyes was forever stuck in his memory. Her velvety voice was ringing in his ears like the purest melody. She was perfection!

Fiyero hated the fact that he was lying to her. He hated the fact that he wasn't honest with her; a young woman so beautiful, kind, sweet and genuine.

But he had made his decision the moment he said his faulse name at her.

 _Feryio.._.

And it was all in his effort to make a true friend. Someone who wouldn't befriend him because of his title. Someone who would care for his character and personality.

His "date" with Elphaba, their simple dinner and their walk in the park, was just enough to make him see with different eyes. It was enough to make his heart beat faster and his mind to work. It was enough to turn the brainless prince to a lovesick fool.

He had wanted to kiss her at the end of the night. To taste the sweet juice of her cherry lips and caresse her silky hair. But he had held himself back. He didn't want to scare her away when he was just getting to know her. Someone as beautiful and kind as her deserved all the happiness he could offer and it was already enough that he was lying about his identity.

He returned in the palace in the most happy mood he had ever come. There was a light dance in his step and he was murmuring a song as he walked in the empty dark halls of the palace.

"Dancing through love, spinning in lightness and always loving you. Life is painful for those who don't know how to love a woman like you..."

"Fiyero!" He abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Serena!" it was also his little sister who had called him from across the hall. He hadn't seen her before but obviously she had been standing by a window in the hallway long before he passed. He had been so absorbed in his love reverie that he hadn't noticed her.

"What made you so cheery today big brother? A party? More alcohol ? Irresponsibility?" She was smirking and whenever Serena was smirking, Fiyero knew that he was doomed.

"None of the above sister dear. I'm just very very happy." he said hastily and made to leave.

"And where were you all night then? You missed dinner again. Father is furious and mother was so worried." Her tone was mocking but Fiyero didn't care. His parents had destroyed his relationship with his sister and it was beyond repair. Their constant attention on Fiyero and the lacking of it when it came to Serena, had made the beautiful princess bitter and hateful. Fiyero had tried in the past to put a stop in her jealous rage and be the perfect big brother. He had failed though because Serena considered his kind movements as pity.

"Mother and father should mind their own business. I have a life and I barely acknowledge them in it." he said as coldly as he could. They had tried to control his life for too long. Lately they had even started talking about an arranged marriage, something that would turn Fiyero's life into hell. His little sister though, who was craving for their attention, considered Fiyero's indifference as disgrace.

"How dare you speak like that Fiyero? They are our parents!"

"They are..." he started before Serena could take a breath "They are the king and queen. They care not about my happiness. They only care for an heir. And you better understand it before you get hurt."

"I totally disagree..."

"Stop fighting me Serena. I'm not your enemy. I'm your brother and I love you genuinely whether you like it or not. They, on the other hand only care about their kingdom."

"You should be following father's steps instead of opposing him." she yelled and Fiyero stepped back.

"Of course I should. I should marry a woman I don't like because father told me so. I should have a male heir because father did so. I should have a daughter and ignore her because father did so. Serena stop judging me all the time and think!"

He didn't let her talk more. He turned around, entered his bedroom and closed the door with a loud bang. Back in the quietness and peace of his bedroom Fiyero's thoughts run to his parents.

They had put him under strict restrictions since he had come back from college, something that he didn't mind as much as he thought he would. He did the best he could to avoid them and spend his life under his own rules and a few restrictions couldn't keep his wild nature at bay. Lately though they had done more than just limiting his personal space. They had started limiting his personal life. They wanted him to marry so that he would have a wife once he would be king. Being the new king would bring responsibilities which wouldn't be able to fulfill if he was in search of a good wife.

A good wife... What would make a good wife for Fiyero? Certainly not a woman who considered him a brainless idiot. And surely not a woman who wasn't in love with him.

 _In love..._

Thinking of love was a tricky thing since a pair of amber eyes resurfaced in his mind. The rosy lips, the raven locks, the kind smile, the mysterious aura, the kindness, the intelligence; those were the things that defied the young bookshop worker under the name Elphaba. She was a girl that he knew for barely two days and for the first time in forever he felt that he would probably fall in love soon and fast.

* * *

Under the name Feryio he met her again in the week that followed.

For some strange reason the palace guards weren't alerted every time he sneaked out and he was free to go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted. So, visiting the bookshop was exactly what he did first chance he got, the day after their first date.

Around mid day he checked out his appearance in the glass of another shop and then he entered the bookstore like an ordinary customer.

"Good morning!" he greeted the girl behind the counter with a smile and he was satisfied to see a small smile on her lips too as she looked up at him.

"I've been looking for a book." he said casually and leaned down on the counter. Elphaba gave him a questioning look before playing along.

"What kind of book?" she asked kindly as she did with all her customers.

"Just a book. Any book." Then he looked down at her and smirked. "What about your favorite book?"

"Feryio?" Her voice held a playful tone and a blush crept up her pale cheeks.

"Elphaba?" She stood up from her chair behind the counter and left her position. She passed right in front of Fiyero without even giving him a glance, she went behind some bookcases and soon she was back, holding a huge tome. With an ironically sweet smile she handed him the tome and he struggled just for a minute to hold the book still. Then he looked first at Elphaba and then at the title.

 _The times of the Witch by Regriory Macruare_

He read the title and the name of the author then he smiled at her.

"Adventures and witches! My favorite kind of book." he exclaimed happily. Not that he meant it. He rarely read books so he had not a favorites kind. Too absorbed in Elphaba's favorite book he was that he didn't notice her mischievous smile.

On contrast to Fiyero, Elphaba knew that the book was indeed an adventure but it was also big into romance. It was probably the only book about romance which she had read and had enjoyed.

As Feryio-Fiyero paid for the book a mother and a child entered the store and Elphaba turned her attention to the new customers instead of him. Just before she would leave him alone to help the mother, Fiyero gave her a charming smile and left the shop in silence. Saying that she was disappointed that he left was an understatement.

But words could not describe what she felt the moment she returned back on the counter. On the desk there was a piece of paper in messy handwriting.

 _To the most beautiful bookshop worker in all of Vinkus... Meet me in the Central Park at eight o' clock tonight._

 _Feryio_

 _P.S: I would never have guessed that you like romantic books._

* * *

"Where are you going Fabala?" Nanny asked as Elphaba opened the door of the house to leave. The young girl stopped in her tracks and tried to seem and sound as normal as possible.

"I'm going to Glinda's. She wants to try on some new dresses and she wants my help." The lie slipped from her tongue easily but the guilt would eat her alive all night. She had made that excuse after hours of good planing with Glinda. Glinda knew of Elphaba's secret meeting with Feryio and wanted to help her friend in her first romantic experience. If Feryio kissed Elphaba, the blonde girl would surely organize their wedding within a week. And if Feryio was who she suspected him to be, then her best friend was the luckiest woman on earth.

"Alright sweetheart. Please don't be late, okay?"

"Okay Nanny! See you later! I love you." called the girl and left the house. She started heading towards Glinda's house but in the last minute she changed direction and walked towards the Central Park, where Feryio had asked her to meet him.

Today her choice of clothing didn't have Glinda's signature but Elphaba was proud that she had made herself look presentable for her date all by herself and without Glinda's glitter. She was wearing a navy colored dress and her hair were falling in soft curls around her shoulders and back. The image was complete by her signature boots and her bright smile.

On contrast to the previous time, this time Feryio wasn't there when she arrived. The last time she had only been late for ten minutes because Glinda had given her that advice. Feryio had been there, waiting for her with a handsome smile and once she had arrived he had been dumbfounded by her appearance. Today she had chosen to be punctual and arrive on time. She was far to eager to see Feryio to wait and be fashionably late. However, Feryio was nowhere to be seen.

She looked around her and scanned the park but all she saw were a few other people who enjoyed their evening walk. It was then that she spotted something that hadn't been there when she had last visited the park. On the ground, right beside the place she was standing, she spotted a small envelope with her name written on the front. She kneeled down and picked it up. Then, with a simple movement, she ripped the paper and found a small note.

 _I don't know if you know it but there is this beautiful girl with the amber eyes that I don't seem to be able to get out of my mind. Have you seen her around lately? If so then tell her to follow the road of the poppies and come to find me there._

 _-Feryio_

Elphaba asked herself not to smile but she actually smiled. She knew this man for barely three days and he was already capturing her heart so fast. Maybe it was just the excitement of a first love. Maybe it was true love. Who knew?

With her feet barely supporting her legs, she followed the path of the poppies- her favorite flower by the way. Her heart started pounding faster and faster as she noticed a lone figure standing at the end of the small path. The dim light was hiding his face from afar but she knew it was him. Her steps quickened and soon as was standing right in front of him, his smiling face on full view.

The moment she arrived in front of him, a smile even wider appeared on his face and she blushed furiously. Then he extended his hand and a small bouquet of red poppies was revealed. Their hands touched as Elphaba took the bouquet and a sparkle run through her body.

"Poppies are my favorite flowers. How did you know?" she asked and he gave her his cute lopsided grin.

"I notice things Miss Elphaba. Let's say, for example, the lone poppies that decorate your desk at the bookstore." She blushed at the thought that he noticed things about her and did everything to impress her.

"Where are we going today?" she asked excitedly as they entwined their arms. With her other hand, Elphaba was holding her bouquet protectively.

"Unfortunately I already had dinner so if you're hungry..."

"I already ate." Elphaba interrupted him. "Nanny wouldn't let me leave the house if I hadn't eaten at least a bite."

He laughed at her words. "She sounds like a wonderful woman. She must love you very much."

Elphaba nodded, unable to form any words. Expressing how much Nanny had done to her was no easy task. The years they had spend with only one another, the protection, the sacrifices that were made, the family they had built... Nanny loved her like her own child and for Elphaba she was the only parent figure she would ever have. "I love her too, you know. We've been together for so long that it's difficult to imagine my life without her. She was my world when I was a child."

Fiyero-Feryio found himself admiring their relationship. He found it hard to imagine his life without his parents even though their relationship wasn't half as affectionate and sincere as Elphaba's with her Nanny. "My parents and I have many differences to overpass nowadays. Our relationship was never the best but for the past year it has been a disaster."

"How come?" she asked automatically and then realized that the question was far too personal. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She looked down in shame and only then did she notice that Feryio had stopped walking. He turned her way and gently lifted her chin. Instantly, her eyes were on his face and he noticed the beautiful rose color on her cheeks, seeming perfect in combination to her amber eyes and pale complexion in the dim moonlight.

"I want to. I don't know why Elphaba and I don't know how, but you've managed to occupy my mind for much longer than I thought you would. I want to share things with you that I've never shared before. I don't want to hide from you. I have so many secrets I wish to share with you but still I cannot do that... Elphaba I..."

"I know you for three days Feryio and our first meeting wasn't exactly ideal. But I want you to trust me as I trust you. Everyone has secrets and you can keep yours. As long as they don't include you being a murderer."

He laughed at her poor excuse of a joke, a reminder of their first meeting. Then they started walking along the park and that was actually their second date. He told her about his parents expecting more from him and about his sister being a nightmare. He told her about his dreams to leave the Vinkus and travel the world. And she told him about her favorite books and favorite places in the Vinkus. Slowly yet steadily they got to know each other and each was falling more and more in love.

Still, there were so many words left unsaid.

Every time she called him Feryio he wanted to scream his true name at her. And every time he complemented her she wanted to yell at him for being a fool and messing with a woman of immense power; a power she had no control over.

Their date that day consisted only a walk in the park but it was worth it because they got to know each other better.

Their next date, the third on the row, was two days later and it was by far fancier and even more romantic. They went to the most romantic restaurant in all of Vinkus, he bought them the sweetest wine and gave her more poppies along with daffodils (his favorite flower). After dinner they took a stroll by the Vinkun river, always holding hands.

"I want more than that!" Feryio said suddenly, as they walked side by side. Elphaba, who had been resting her head on his shoulders, looked up curiously.

"Since I met you Elphaba, I can't get you out of my mind. I don't know if it's love or not, but I feel it so strong and the feeling grows every time I see you and..."

Her eyes were glowing in the dim moonlight and they looked like real ambers. They were looking at him with adoration and the warmth in his heart turned into an inferno. Instinctively his arms pulled her closer and he felt a tiny tremble on her waist. He could say she was nervous and excited at the same time.

"Feryio I..."

Before she could say anything more, he brought their lips together and kissed her. Slowly at first then more passionately as she brought her arms around his neck to bring him closer.

For Fiyero it was the first kiss that meant something.

For Elphaba it was her first kiss.

And one thing was for sure...  
It was a first kiss of many to come...

* * *

The third date brought a fourth and the fourth a fifth and soon they had been spending more and more time together. He would come to the bookstore to either tell her good morning and buy a random book, or to help her rearrange the selves and clean the place. Whenever he did helped her, he would sing whatever song came on his mind and he would dance around the place, something that always fixed her mood. Then in the evenings, under the pure secrecy of Glinda's undercover plans, they would sneak away from Nanny and spend romantic moments together.

Feryio's first meeting with Glinda would have been a disaster if Elphaba hadn't left them alone for a few minutes to go to the bathroom. Glinda had been stiff all through their meeting and checked him up and down to find even the slightest flaw. The awkward tension was killing the good atmosphere and made Elphaba unsure of her choice to bring her best friend and her -now- boyfriend together.

Glinda's suspicions of Feryio's true identity were indeed correct. She had obsessed over Prince Fiyero long enough to recognize him on the spot. Fiyero on his part, understood immediately that Glinda had recognized him. So, they had spend all dinner staring at each other with suspicion.

It was only when Elphaba went to the bathroom that they broke her silence of his identity. At the same time they each said what was on their mind.

"Please don't tell Elphaba?"

"When are you going to tell Elphaba?"

Glinda eyed him up and down again and saw sincerity in his eyes.

"Why are you hiding your identity from her?" she asked hastily, before he could ask something else.

"Well, in my life people always approach me because of my title and my status. When I met Elphaba and she had no idea who I was, I knew that I had found my chance to see what love felt like. I wanted Elphaba to care for me, the real me, not my fictional persona."

"So you lied to her." she concluded and he looked down in shame.

"I realized too late that Elphaba wouldn't care if I was a Duce, a marquis, a knight or a prince. And now I have no idea how to tell her the truth. I don't wish to hurt her."

A wide smile appeared on Glinda's face; the first smile she had given him all night. "I may know how to help you on that part." She winked at him and then Elphaba came back, surprised to see that in her absence they started getting along just fine.

* * *

As the days passed, Fiyero found it all the more harder to escape from his parents and counselors. On the other side, Elphaba found it harder to escape from Nanny too. The old woman was suspicious that her protege was hiding something important. She usually spend most of her free time with Glinda but lately she hadn't been doing only that. Elphaba had started taking care of her appearance and dressing herself in more beautiful frocks. She also preferred her hair loose and not in braids - because Feryio had once commented that he loved her raven locks- and she was dreamy all the time. She was even murmuring songs.

Nanny's experienced eyes could only reach one conclusion; Elphaba was in love.

* * *

A month into her loving relationship with Feryio, Elphaba made the big decision to open her mother's diary. She felt emotionally ready to do so.

She was wrong...

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter is Melena's diary. Stay tuned!  
**


	7. Chapter 7: A mother

**Hello wonderful readers!**

 **I know it's been a while since I last updated and I'm terribly sorry for this late chapter. It wasn't my intention to make you wait for so long but in all honesty I had a very busy summer. For a start I'm now a university student in one of the most modernized universities in my country studying International and European relations. I'm so excited and I already love everything about it. I also spent my summer visiting a few greek islands and I had a wonderful time with my friends at the beach. So I thank them for giving me such a wonderful summer to remember in the cold days of winter.**

 **So, I'll try to update as often as I can since I have so many ideas for this story but sometimes it's difficult to put my thoughts in order and write something decent.**

 **Anyway enough about me. Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you guys think!**

* * *

 _Today I met him. I had never thought that I would ever fall in love but it happened. It's real and nothing can change it. Can people fall in love so quickly and as easily? I don't know if they can. But for some reason I can feel the love deep in my heart. The feeling is young and raw and my insecurities start resurfacing but I believe it's true._

 _The thing is that I'm bubbling and you don't even know the name of the reason why I'm bubbling. His name is Oscar! Oscar Diggs! And he is the most handsome man I've ever seen._

 _How I met him? That's a good question actually. I was with Dethna-my cousin- and Laretha/my best friend- on the market here in Frottica when I first saw him. He was a traveling merchant dressed in green and his kind smile immediately captured my eyes. He was tall, much taller than me, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes- the kindest eyes I've ever seen. I knew he wasn't from Froticca and he looked like he wasn't from Gillikin at all._

 _I looked at him from afar and soon our eyes locked. A sweet warmth grew in my chest and unconsciously my steps led me closer to him._

 _"What would a beautiful lady like you want from a simple merchant like me?" he asked me and gave me his brightest smile. I was unable to speak and thankfully I noticed that he was selling perfumes. Without speaking a word, I pointed to one small green bottle and he smiled even brighter._

 _"Excellent choice my lady!" he told me and wrapped the perfume in silver paper. I made to pay but he stopped me with his soft voice._

 _"No need to. It's a gift!" I thanked him but I was sure that my voice sounded more like a whisper._

 _I thought that I would never see him again. That I would never see Oscar again. I guess I was wrong since I met him again that same day, this time in the backyard of the chapel of Saint Aelphaba. I was hiding from my parents and their annoying arguments when he saw me and approached me. I learned his name and we spend the entire evening talking. I learned that he was from another faraway land and that he was working as a merchant because he loved traveling to new places._

 _Maybe Oscar is the one to lift me off the ground..._

* * *

Elphaba had read a small part of her mother's diary until that point. She had read a few things about her mother's teens and her relationship with her parents- Elphaba's grandparents- along with her cousin Dethna and her best friend Larena. She had read many descriptions of Froticca and Gillikin and most of what she said matched the descriptions of Glinda's mother. Miraculously, Glinda's family was from Froticca and Elphaba felt another connection to her best friend, besides the fact that they were both migrants in the Vinkus all their lives.

What was obvious from the very beginning was that seventeen years old Melena- the Melena of the diary- had no idea of curses, birthmarks or magic. She was sweet, innocent and knew not what a terrible future awaited her. With tears in her eyes, Elphaba would read page by page what a beautiful, intelligent and strong girl her mother had been.

Page after page, she would read the story of how her parents, Melena DeRuelle and Oscar Diggs fell in love. Their love was as pure as the sky and her mind was filled with a strange happiness. Knowing that her parents had loved each other so purely and wholeheartedly was soothing and gave her comfort. For a time, her parents had been happy.

But soon, the pages that were filled with Melena's happiness, started occupying her misery. According to the diary, Elphaba's grandmother, Frederia, had told Melena the truth about their family on her eighteenth birthday.

* * *

 _We are a family that survives the struggles of thousand lifetimes. According to my mother, every seven generations, a woman from our family bares a birthmark so special that there is no second one. She asked me to undress and she showed me a birthmark that I myself bare. It is a tiny perfectly shaped rose in pink color. Every woman in our family is born with the tiny pink rose and that is a detail no one knows. But the special child, the one born every seven generations has a rose birthmark just like ours in the color of green._

 _She isn't special just because her mark is green. She is also special because she has a gift that no other human has. She can predict the future. According to my mother, the women who were born with the gift were haunted by powerful men who wanted the power for themselves. Kings and dukes and governors who know of the power are capable to turn the earth up side down to find the girl who can bring them greatness just with an information of what is to come. My mother said that it is a curse and that it has only brought misery. What am I to think of this?_

 _And where do I fit in all this madness? Apparently I'm the sixth woman in the generation circle of our family. This means that whatever child I have, shall be a girl with the special power of saying the future. It is madness! I won't believe it! It is complete madness!_

* * *

Elphaba was at first shocked at her mother's disbelief over the curse. The curse that had killed her was according to Melena a fraud. It was soon though that Elphaba realized that Melena's naïveté didn't last for long.

There were a few pages of sweet obliviousness until Elphaba read the pages that sealed her mother's fate. The words sank in her and started blowing sounds of a long forgotten past in her troubled mind. Dim images appeared in her mind, blurry pictures that told a story and soon the days of her mother's suffering were playing in her mind like a movie.

Usually she would find a way to stop the visions. But this was a one in a lifetime chance. Selfishly she thought that it was her only chance to see her mother as she had been. And it was her only chance to see the face of the enemy.

* * *

 _Oblivious and sweet Melena had no idea what awaited her the moment she would arrive in her house that day. She was returning from a date with Oscar and she was absentmindedly whistling a song and was admiring the colorful flowers around her. Nothing could change her mood that day. Nothing at all... Except of three angry looking soldiers in dark green uniforms right outside of the door to her house._

 _She hesitated to approach the wooden door but the guards had already noticed her, so she couldn't hide. The guards had their eyes set on her and were watching her every move. Cold sweat started running down her neck as she took small steps till the door. Her brave amber eyes were also watching the guards and her almost regal composure gave her an air of confidence she didn't knew she possessed. With a final glance at the soldiers, she opened the door and entered the safety of her house._

 _But something wasn't right..._

 _Something felt out of place and soon she found out what it was._

 _She found her parents in the sitting room with a guest she had never seen. The man was older than her for at least twenty years and he was by far the ugliest and bolder man she had ever seen. He was tall and broad shouldered with dark black hair and a black beard that hid his sharp features. He reminded her of a ruthless soldier with the dark glimmer she could see in his eyes. He looked like a predator waiting to destroy its prey. And Melena had a feeling that she was the prey. The truth that he was high born was quite obvious from the guards that accompanied him and his expensive clothing._

 _"Melena, you're finally home!" her mother exclaimed and only then did the girl noticed the worried looks on their faces. Her father's bald head was sweating and her mother's hands were trembling as she had them placed on her lap. A broken tea cup was on the floor right in front of where her mother sat and Melena instantly knew that something was wrong with this man. Something was terribly wrong and she was afraid to find out what it was. Maybe obliviousness was better than knowing the truth._

 _"Yes mother, I'm back. Who is our dear guest?" Beatrina DeRuelle paled visibly._

 _"Melena dear, let me introduce you to Frexspar Thropp, Governor of Munchkinland." The Governor kissed Melena's hand in a gentlemanly way and it was her turn to pale, this time from the disgust she felt in his mere touch._

 _"Enchanté beautiful lady Melena." he said. "It is a pleasure of finally meeting you"_

 _I wish the sentiment was mutual, Melena wanted to scream but instead she settled for forced politeness. "The pleasure is all mine your Governorship." Then she turned to her parents. "May I go to my chamber now. I'm sure that the Governor has much more important things to discuss with you father."_

 _She had already turned around to exit the room when her father's voice rang in her ears. "No!" Melena turned his way slowly, curiosity burning deep in her eyes. "You can't go upstairs. The governor is here for you." Her mother patted the place next to her for Melena to sit and the girl did so. Her hands were already sweating and her legs were shaking in worry._

 _"I don't understand father. What would the governor of Munchkinland wish to do with the daughter of a simple merchant from Gillikin?" Her parents were both silent for a while. The only sound in the room were their heartbeats and the constant nervous trembling of Melena's leg. Her trembling hands started playing with a tea cup from the table in front of her and the clinking of the porcelain was an added sound to the silence. Finally, it was the Governor who spoke first._

 _"Because sweet lady Melena, I'm here to ask for your hand in marriage."_

 _Clink Clink Clink and the tea cup was now a thousand little pieces of glass on the marble floor._

* * *

 _"I can't and I won't marry him!" Melena's yelling had scared away even the birds of the area. Her pleas and tears, though, had done nothing to change her father's opinion. Her mother remained silent all through the argument even though she knew exactly why Melena shouldn't marry the Governor. But Marion DeRuelle had no idea. Melena's father knew not of the curse and the how it affected his wife, his daughter and his granddaughter. He saw the marriage to the powerful governor as an opportunity to become powerful and rich himself._

 _Melena and Beatrina knew. Beatrina had no idea how the governor had managed to uncover her secret and find out that Melena was the sixth woman and that their family was the one of the prophecies. He had found out somehow and Melena had finally realized the disturbing truth of her mother's revelation. The governor wanted to marry her to have and raise her child in his liking and manipulate her to use her as a tool._

 _"You shall marry him, whether you want it or not."_

 _Her desperate tears did nothing to ease his heart. His decision was absolutely final. And the problem was that Melena could see the reason behind his declarations. Frex wouldn't give power and prestige to the DeRuelle family. Instead he was offering them protection. He had threatened the family straightforwardly, which had left mother and daughter powerless._

 _It only took a few hours for Melena to go and find Oscar in their meeting place, by the lake. She was distressed, hot tears were pouring from her eyes and her voice was hoarse and raspy. Fight after fight, argument after argument, she had lost every single battle against her father and the Governor. Her father's decision was final and no words from her or her mother could chômage his mind. Oscar was her only sanctuary and still, she was losing him as quickly as she had found him._

 _"Oscar!" she called him name the moment he appeared in her point of vision. The face of a handsome man turned around to look at her but the bright smile soon disappeared from his face._

 _"Melena-Mia, my love what is wrong?" he asked the moment he enveloped the young woman in a tight embrace. She was a sobbing mess and her arms fell limp on her sides. All the while he stroke her long hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. Still embraced, they sat on the grassy ground by the river and there, slowly and steadily, Melena calmed down._

 _"My love, my life, what is wrong?" he asked her once she stopped crying._

 _"Just hold me Oscar. Please! My heart is breaking!" They spend several moments in silence. In his arms she could find the comfort she wanted and she could feel the love she desired. It was overwhelming and perfect! And it was going to end soon..._

 _The sun had already set when Melena spoke again and her words were like a spear into Oscar's heart._

 _"I'm getting married to the Governor of Munchickinland. He asked for my hand and my father accepted. I struggled for hours to change his mind but it was pointless. The Governor threatened to destroy my family and kill the ones I love if I refuse his proposal. He wants to marry me because I'm a descendant of a powerful generation of witches and seers. Every seven generations a child is born, a girl, with the power to tell the future. The child bares a birthmark in the shape of a green rose. This child will be my child and the Governor wants her for the great power she will possess. There is no escape!"_

 _Oscar was silent for the rest of the night. He tried to think of what he had heard about the curse of the green rose and unfortunately for poor Melena, the legend was well known in Munchkinland and in Gillikin. Him, being a merchant, he knew of all the rumors that traveled through the realms and he had seen of desperate mothers and fathers searching for the rose on their daughter's bodies. He had also heard that most women that were involved with the curse had no happy endings. They were miserable and unfortunate, haunted by those who hoped to use them._

 _Sometime in the middle of the night, Melena fell asleep in his arms. And Oscar found his chance to swear..._

 _"No matter what, no matter the pain and the cost, I shall protect you with my life. And your child will be my child and I shall protect our little daughter through all eternity. That I promise you!"_

* * *

Elphaba had tears in her eyes the moment the vision of the past faded. She had seen her mother for the first time and only now she could notice the similarities. The same raven black hair, the same amber eyes, the same sweet smile... Her mother looked so much like her, though her face was rounder and there were dimples on her cheeks. Elphaba's features were sharper yet elegant at the same time.

Only now could Elphaba see her father in her. But was he her father? Oscar was his name and he was the man her mother had loved with all her heart. According to Nanny's stories, her father, Oscar, had found them when Nanny was running away and had sent them to the Vinkus for protection. Elphaba always wondered what had happened to him in the years that followed but somehow she knew that he was alive. And she also knew that they would see each other again.

A burning sensation reached her thigh, at the exact spot were the green rose was. Her birthmark was burning her skin like iron and fire and she couldn't ignore the pain.

She had read enough for one day. And she had seen even more...

* * *

 _ **Munchkinland, Governor's Mansion, May 1588**_

It was the eighteenth birthday of Nessarose Thropp, daughter of the Governor of Munchkinland and his lady wife. She was the oldest child out of three and she was the most beloved and favored amongst her siblings.

There wasn't a person in the entire Munchkinland who didn't love the sweet and beautiful Nessarose. She wasn't a very tall girl- she was rather petite and thin- with perfectly shaped brown locks and warm chocolate eyes. Her complexion was peach-pink and her cheeks were rosy red. People praised her kind heart and her lady like behavior, her perfect sewing skills, her soothing dancing moves, her graceful and prideful steps.  
All in all, Nessarose was considered the most beautiful young woman in all of Munchkinland and any man would be lucky to win her favor.

"Lady Nessarose, your father asked for your presence in his office!" a maid said from outside Nessarose's door and the girl answered that she would be downstairs in a couple of minutes. She fixed any imperfections in her attire and took a deep breath. She had to be perfect for her lord father. Earlier that evening she had attended the ball her father had organized to celebrate Nessarose's eighteenth birthday. Her light pink dress with the purple lace fitted her perfectly and made her look like a princess out of a fairytale.

Outside the door she found her maid waiting to take her to her father. She followed in silence and expected what was to happen once she would enter the office that had witnessed her tears more than once.

Her father was waiting for her while sitting on his comfortable chair behind his desk. His smile was kind and seemingly caring but Nessarose knew better. His dark, almost black, eyes betrayed his true feelings- rage, annoyance, impatience, evilness.

"My precious Nessarose, have a seat my darling child." he said and motioned for her to sit in the empty chair in front of his desk.

"Thank you father!" she said politely and with an elegant curtesy she sat on the leather bound chair.

"You know why I called you here tonight my dear." he stated and Nessarose sighed with a nod.

"I'm well aware my lord."

"Good! I hope you are well aware of the consequences of your failure my darling."

Nessarose held back the first hot tear that was about to escape her brown eyes. "I am!" She put on a brave façade, the same one she had put on for years and years under her mother's request. The two women knew that their lies would one day come to the surface but that day had come much sooner than expected and Nessarose was left alone to deal with the painful results of her mother's game. Dethna Thropp had abandoned her daughter when she needed her the most.

"Since you are now eighteen, your powers will be at full force. You are now ready to fulfill your destiny and become the witch that I know you are." Frexspar Thropp stood up and started pacing the floor with long steps. His wrinkled face was still in a king smile but for those who knew better, it wasn't really a smile. It was a smirk full of satisfaction for a victory he hadn't yet achieved. "My precious Nessarose, you are blessed with a gift. A gift to make your family proud, to make your old father powerful enough to make you a princess."

"I'll try not to fail you..." Two hands with thin fingers and sharp nails grasped her shoulders and stoped her mid-sentenced.

"I don't want you to try. You won't fail, whether you like it or not."

"Yes father!" she mumbled with a broken heart. Deep inside she knew the reason why her father favored her over her siblings. She knew it had nothing to do with her beauty or her kind heart. It was because of the power she could grant him. Her father was obsessed with gaining more and more power and in his grasp he held the most precious treasure; a girl that could predict the future and help him make all the right choices- choices that could help him overthrow even the Ozma Queen.

"Good girl. Now, go to have a rest and tomorrow your real work as my daughter begins." he said so sweetly and innocently that Nessarose almost believed he truly cared about her as a person. She silently stood up and he kissed her forehead. "Goodnight my precious Nessarose!"

"Goodnight father." She left the office with hurried steps, only to find her mother at the end of the hallway. Dethna Thropp was dressed in her nightgown with her few hair grey and loose from their usual braid. Her complexion was pale, as it had been for the past year, and her hands were trembling. The deathly decease that had fallen upon her a year ago was slowly eating away her life. She became weaker day by day and there was nothing the doctors could do to help her. Cancer they called her illness and there was no cure.

"Nessie..." A look from her daughter was enough to tell her everything she needed to know. They were all doomed and especially little Nessarose. Nessa's watery eyes were locked with hers for a few seconds before the young girl run down the hallway and as far away from her mother as she could.

Dethna knew it was her fault they had come to this and she was now paying the price; or rather, her child was paying the price of her sins.

Twenty years ago she had been a different person, a young woman full of jealousy without knowing the consequences of her actions. Now, as she walked down the hallways of the Governor's mansion, she could only think of her beautiful and kind hearted cousin.

 _Melena_

As little girls and until they reached adulthood they were best friends, along with their neighbor Larena Starr. Melena and she did everything together and enjoyed each other's company. They had been like sisters. When Melena had fallen in love with that young man, Oscar Diggs, Dethna was the first one to know. She would help the two lovers meet and she would exchange their letters to each other. It seemed like nothing could change their relationship.

That was until Melena rejected the good fortune that fell upon her. When the Governor of Munchkinland had asked for Melena's hand in marriage, Dethna couldn't understand the reason why her cousin was so against that union. Dethna he been blinded by the Governor's riches and she believed that not even love was enough to stop her from having a comfortable life as a Governess. Melena was crying because she would lose her true love and Dethna was crying because she was losing the chance to become rich.

It was too late when she realized that things weren't exactly as they seemed. Out of the blue, and after a seemingly successful marriage with Melena, Frexspar Thropp made Dethna his mistress.

And then she found out...

All Frexspar Thropp cared about was the prophecy of the Rose. That prophecy had forced Melena into a loveless marriage and it had also forced her to run away once she got pregnant. In the meantime, Dethna had gotten pregnant too and it was the exact day that she learnt of Melena's death and the flee of her baby with a midwife, that she gave birth to Nessarose. It was a sick twist of fate that had granted her own daughter with a mark similar to the prophesied rose and that had given to Frexspar the idea that Nessa was the foretold child.

With her own twisted lies, Dethna had made him believe that false truth for years. And everything had been well until now...

Her walk through the hallways of the mansion came to an abrupt end when she reached the balcony of the west wing. Another figure was standing over the railing and was staring at the distance as if he expected to see something. He was a man and the only living person, beside herself, who knew the whole truth. With steady steps, as steady as her now fragile legs could manage, she approached him and looked in the same direction. She stared off into the distance...

"It should be her daughter, suffering just like my child."

The man barely flinched at her cold and venomous words.

"My poor Nessa is suffering the fate of your daughter. It should be her and not Nessa. It should be her child crying day and night because her father wants to use her. It should be her daughter being threatened to manage the impossible. It should be that vile woman in my place, dying the way I am..." She didn't have time to react as a strong hand was immediately wrapped around her neck and she was stuck to the wall behind them.

"Don't you dare utter another word and don't you dare to mention Melena or her daughter in my presence ever again. You brought this upon yourself Dethna. You brought misery upon Melena by sabotaging her. And you brought misery upon your child because of your jealousy. Nessarose, of course, she is innocent and doesn't deserve what is to become of her but don't you dare place Melena's daughter in her place. That child has suffered more than you and Nessa combined." He saw her eyes changing from hateful to shameful. She could feel nothing but complete shame for her actions and it was wrong to put the blame on Melena and her child. They were all victims in a game far greater than them.

He let go of her neck and she could breath normal again. She rested her head on the wall behind her and sighed deeply. "Oscar forgive me..."

"There is nothing to forgive!" He turned his back on her and looked at the distance once again.

"It was wrong, what I said. But try to understand...I'm a mother and I can't see my child suffering."

"And I'm a father Dethna. A father that never saw his child growing up because she is somehow special. And my child never knew a mother. For all she may know, she is an orphan."

Dethna looked at the man's back. He was cold. The warm hearted and kind person he had once been, had been replaced by someone cold and unemotional. Only the mention of Melena and their child could bring the emotion in his eyes.

"Oscar!" He didn't respond. He only stared at the distance. "Oscar please protect Nessarose. I know that deep down you care about her. She and your daughter would have been friends under different circumstances. Please Oscar, as a parent, grant a mother that one last request!"

He didn't respond. He didn't even react until he heard her light steps moving away from the balcony.

* * *

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


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